After Being Closed Since 2017, Kanawha Valley Raceway in West Virginia to Re-Open as Southside Dragway
Despite a good number of drag tracks closing down in 2023, the racing community has seen some rays of light as new tracks are constructed, or tracks that have not been in operation for a while are getting a second chance to showcase the sport again.
How Kenewah Valley Dragway last looked before closing in 2017.
We reported about the construction on the new Flying H Drag Strip adding another track to the Missouri area in 2024, and now news is out that the the former Kanawha Valley Raceway in Mason County, West Virginia getting a new lease on life as Southside Dragway.
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Earl Smith is the man behind the effort, purchasing the track earlier in the year, and a group of people have been working to get the track back to working condition after sitting unused for nearly eight years.
Earl Smith is excited about opening the former Kenewah Valley Dragway up as Southside Dragway for the 2024 season.
The eighth-mile track first saw light in 1994, and enjoyed sanctioning from the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA). But in 2017, co-owner Tim Bell decided to put the track up for sale, noting a declining interest in participation and the economy.
It was reported the property was sold in 2017, and the chance of it being leveled and never seeing use as a drag strip again a very real possibility.
Kenewah Valley Dragway hosted racing action from 1994 to 2016.
The property, which also houses a smaller circle track that has seen use in the past for go kart racing, is being readied currently for a 2024 re-opening. A video detailing some of the history, as well the plan going forward, is below:
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Marc Doughty, David Wood and Ben Smith.
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