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Roxboro, North Carolina 1/8-Mile Drag Strip Goes Up For Auction

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If owning a drag strip happens to be on your bucket list, then this might be your opportunity.

The owners of the Roxboro Motorsports Park in Roxboro, North Carolina, just south of the Virginia state line a short drive from Greensboro and Durham, closed their gates this spring following their annual Easter Bash as they searched for potential new ownership. The facility has now been placed up for a closed-bid auction [2] that will be conducted on Friday, November 10 by Wolt & Associates Real Estate Brokers.

[3]The eighth-mile Roxboro strip was opened in 1959 by John Henry Garrett, his wife Ruby and his sons Keith, Michael, and Gary, as a dirt facility. It was paved in 1961 and operated for the better part of two decades under the name Person County Dragstrip before it was renamed the Roxboro Dragway in 1977. It served as a quarter-mile facility under the ownership of the Gannett’s, who sold it in 1981. Former racer Richard “Sonny” Shipmon took over management in ’81.

Following several improvements to the facility in 2006 under the ownership of Henry and Jerry Martin, it was then renamed the Roxboro Motorsports Park. Danny Grizzard and JR Ward began co-operating the track in 2014 and Grizzard and wife, Becky, remain the owners at present.

Roxboro has seen a few of the icons throughout its history, including Ronnie Sox, Reid Whisnant, Don Nicholson, Don Carlton, Herb McCandless, and, during his brief drag racing stint, Richard Petty.

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On the 42-acre site is the eighth-mile strip that was freshly-ground in 2014 and a virtually race-ready operation, with a 3-year old ETS timing system, two christmas trees, timeslip printer, flat screen monitors in the timing tower, two control computers, remodeled restrooms, and a new well pump to keep the facility from over-saturating in rain showers. Through a separate online auction of personal property to be held on November 15-19, a potential owner can make the Roxboro track purchase a virtually lock, stock, and barrel deal, as tractors, a track sweeper, various commercial lawn mowing equipment, a utility building, aluminum bleachers, wireless scoreboards, a host of concession kitchen equipment, and a whole assortment of other items will all go to the highest bidder.

To sweeten the pot a little, the Grizzards have extended an option to owner finance to qualified buyers.

Might someone get a steal of a deal here?