One month ago, Terry ‘Jabbo’ Forsythe’s life was turned upside down, literally. After an F4 tornado ripped through the small town of Holly Springs, Mississippi, 30 miles southeast of Memphis – the famed Holly Springs Motorsports facility was leveled to nothing but concrete, asphalt and retaining walls. Forsythe, track manager at Holly Springs, and his wife, Carol, lost their home and all of their belongings in the process, along with the track that they helped gain the reputation of as one of the quickest and fastest in the world for heads-up drag racing.
Track owners Nathan and Aileen Davis were shaken up, as well, losing their investment and many possessions located in their race shop which was also on the property. But, as the old saying goes, there’s always light at the end of a tunnel.
After countless hours and with the support of innumerable volunteers, the facility is now cleaned up well enough to begin rebuilding some of the necessary structures for weekly operation. The concession stand is being rebuilt in the same location as it was before, and the restroom on the spectator side is already under construction, as seen by the pictures.
The larger bathroom and shower facility will begin taking shape next week, along with pouring of the concrete slab for the new and improved race control tower, which will do away with the “walkover” style tower from before. The list of updates for the facility includes many things to improve every day operations, but some will be appealing to the racers — including the plans to move the starting line back a proposed 330-feet, thus adding more shutdown area and a new outlook for the facility.
Accutime Timing equipment is coming back onboard to the track with their new and improved timing system, along with four new LED scoreboards to make reading elapsed times and speeds easier for the fans in the stands.
The team at Holly Springs is working diligently to be back in business in time to begin the 2016 season as planned. Their 5th Annual Spring Shootout and the Coalburg Racing Promotions Southern Footbrake Challenge kick off an exciting year for the motorsports facility that just one month ago was standing in rubble. We’ll be keeping tabs on the rebuild process of Holly Springs Motorsports and the exciting announcement of the grand re-opening.
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