Construction planned around site of closed historic SC speedway. What to know
The Pickens County Planning Commission will consider a plan to build warehouses on part of a 289-acre site that includes the shuttered Greenville Pickens Speedway.
The application from a real estate company representing the current primary owner, car dealer Kevin Whitaker, and two others says the speedway location will not be included in the first phase of the project, which would cover 100 acres.
The application says the speedway would have a temporary entrance.
Two warehouses would be built and pads for two more would be graded.
Ultimately, the site would hold 10 warehouses, but a timeline was not included in the application. A schematic on the real estate website shows all 10 buildings and the racetrack.
Racer Jackie Manley spearheaded a fundraising effort earlier this year that would have allowed racing at the 83-year-old track in Easley but in the end a deal could not be completed with Whitaker.
On Facebook recently, he said a donation had been made to Shriners Hospital.
Mark Blackwell, son of the former and longtime owner of the track, Tom Blackwell, who worked with Manley on the campaign said the cash donated — about $10,000 — had been given to the hospital. The rest of the money from the campaign was made in the form of promises. Manley said they raised in all about $60,000.
2023 was the first year since World War II that racing was dark for the season.
“If the potential sale of the property goes through, we look forward to working with new ownership to attempt to preserve and revive the racetrack,” The Save our Speedway Facebook page states.
Blackwell said he encourages people to attend the planning commission meeting Monday to hear about the plan. He remains hopeful racing can survive.
“It’s a very emotional thing for me,” he said.
He and Manley have ties to the track stretching back to childhood.
The planning application says the owner would be SC GP Speedway LLC, which was registered with the South Carolina Secretary of State in September. The registered agent is Philip J. Wilson, founder of RealtyLink, a Greenville-based commercial developer that has had a contract to buy the property for months.
The development would be called Warehouse Park.
The Pickens County planning department did not comment in the documents filed with the commission, but did not raise any concerns in response to questions such as how the development fits with the county comprehensive plan and whether it would be a problem for neighbors.
The Planning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Monday for a workshop, following by the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Pickens County Administration Building main conference room, 222 McDaniel Avenue, Pickens.
Whitaker has not been available for comment on the track’s past, present or future.
Greenville Pickens Speedway opened in 1940 as a half-mile-long dirt track. When racing resumed after the war on Independence Day, fans saw two horse races and a car race promoted by Bill France Sr., who two years later founded NASCAR.
The Blackwell family bought the track in 1955, the same year NASCAR began sanctioning races there. The track, later paved, hosted various Winston Cup races through the years.
After nearly 50 years, the Blackwells sold the property to Whitaker, a long-time sponsor who owns auto dealerships in the Upstate.
