The “Pretty Paperclip” of Martinsville Speedway has a history that runs parallel to the history of NASCAR.

The Speedway was built by H. Clay Earles and opened in 1947, the year before NASCAR was formed.

In 1949, the new NASCAR circuit visited Martinsville Speedway for the first time in the series’ first year of competition and Red Byron took the checkers. The track is the only one from that first season that still hosts the Cup Series each year.

On that first race day, there were 6,000 spectators and only 750 seats at the track. Today, over 60,000 seats surround the shortest track on the schedule for NASCAR’s premier division.

The .526 mile oval has no banking on its 800 foot front and back stretches and a slight 11-12 degree rise in its hairpin turns.

The surface was paved in 1955 but has been fairly unchanged since; however, everything else has been developed to accommodate the teams and fans on race weekend including the addition of a new bypass off the interstate to help race day traffic, revamped pit stalls, an infield media center and tunnel, state-of-the-art garages and a new scoreboard.

Earles always wanted the best for his track and his legacy has been passed down over the years. His grandson, W. Clay Campbell, became the track’s president in 1988 and has made continuous improvements around the facility.

International Speedway Corporation purchased the track in 2004 but Campbell remains the track president and Earles’ vision lives on at this historic racing facility known for its odd shape, wild racing and the “Famous Martinsville Speedway Hot Dog”.

The hot dog is a story all in itself.

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