Support for the historic Greenville-Pickens Speedway is gaining momentum across the racing world after the Pickens County Planning Commission denied plans to demolish parts of the track.
Multiple figures in the racing world have shown support for Greenville-Pickens Speedway after the Pickens County Planning Commission denied a developer’s plan to demolish the track.
At a March 9 Pickens County Planning Commission meeting, the commission denied phases three, four, and five of the development of the Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
At a NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Speedway on March 22, racing commentator, Fox Sports announcer Mike Joy, said South Carolina is an amazing place for racing, and after the demolition of the Myrtle Beach Speedway in 2021, the Greenville-Pickens Speedway needs saving, too.
“You need to get involved, because racetracks don’t vote. If you’re going to save the site of the first NASCAR race in full, you need to help out,” Joy said during the race’s broadcast.
Former American motorsports driver Mark Martin referred to the already-demolished historic racetrack, Rockford Speedway, noting that speedways are becoming easier targets for developers.
“There are so many racetracks where the cities around them have grown all around them to a point where property becomes more valuable than the racetrack does,” Martin said during a NASCAR Cup Series press conference.
One of the most notable figures to support saving the track was Dale Earnhardt Jr. He posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account on March 12 that he would be the first to race at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway if the track were brought back to life.
“If @GPSpeedway1 (Greenville-Pickens Speedway’s X handle) can survive, the @CARSTour (late model stock and pro late model racing series) will be the first in line to return, and I’ll be the first entry,” Earnhardt Jr. said via X.
The Greenville-Pickens Speedway was the site of NASCAR’s first nationally televised start-to-finish race on April 10, 1971.
Over the years, the Speedway hosted many NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers, including David Pearson, Richard Petty, and Junior Johnson.
The under-development section of the Speedway is now labeled “Speedway Business & Technology Park” and will include nine buildings, totaling 800,000 square feet across 33 acres. By late March 2023, the Speedway property in Easley had been contracted for purchase by RealtyLink LLC.
The Greenville-Pickens Speedway Phase 1 proposal was approved in 2024, and construction of a truck access area and four industrial buildings began near the site of the former fairgrounds.
On Jan. 13, 2025, the planning commission approved Phase 2, which included four newly constructed buildings totaling approximately 2.9 million square feet and 153 acres.
More: NASCAR icon throws support behind saving Greenville-Pickens Speedway
The Commission’s denial
The planning commission cited the developers’ inconsistencies with the county’s comprehensive plan and issues with a pending contract, a 20-year plan, and a two-mile traffic plan.
Pickens County Comprehensive Plan, often referred to as “OnePickens,” is a long-term guiding document for growth, land use, and development in Pickens County. Most comprehensive plans designate certain parts of the county for commercial, industrial, and residential use. The comprehensive plan is looking to push more residential rather than commercial.
Realty will reapply for the development in a couple of months, according to RealtyLink Principal Phil Wilson.
This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: ‘Racetracks don’t vote.’ Support grows to preserve Speedway
