CLASS RACER FORUM - "Live" from Galot Division 2 Divisional 2016

Some color commentary on GALOT from the local media. Also - the grandstands are from the backstretch at Daytona.

BENSON - Clinton's Earl Wells isn't interested in doing something half-heartedly.

Once he got a taste of tractor pulling with his son-in-law John Strickland driving, Wells leapfrogged several classes up the competition ladder. He hauled the GALOT ("Get a Load of This") tractors to meets all over the country in a specialty built trailer that rivals anything in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.

When a former employee and friend, Kevin Riven-bark of Wallace, got him hooked on drag racing, Wells went in whole hog with a two-car team. Rivenbark and team manager Todd Tutterow of Yadkinville will both compete on NHRA's 10-race Pro Modified circuit.

Wells' latest endeavor in the deep end of the pool is his purchase of Dunn-Benson Dragstrip, now rechristened GALOT Motorsports Park.

But there's more - much more - than just a name change to a raceway that opened in 1957. We're talking whole-hog makeover.

"Nothing against the former owner of this place - he did what he could do within his means and he did a lot of good things, a lot of upgrades - but we're building on what he started. We're going to carry this thing to the next level."

Wells has the means to see that plan to fruition.

He and two partners started S&W Concrete in 1986, then sold it to construction giant Titan, whose headquarters are in Athens - that's Greece, not Georgia - in 2007. They still have two related companies.

So, when Wells shows up at the dragstrip in a cowboy hat, overalls and cowboys boots, it's sort of like Jed Clampett has arrived. But unlike Uncle Jed, Wells is the furthest thing from an "aw, shucks" country boy. He's sure of where he's going, how he's going to get there and for the moment, at least, turning a profit takes a back seat to getting the job done to suit his vision.

Most noticeably, the racing surface has been ripped up and crushed for re-use as a base layer for the new track. The construction of concrete walls is underway for a track that's 18 feet wider than before, and then a fresh layer of concrete and asphalt will fill the space from one end to the other. The 300-foot-long concrete launch pad will have the infrastructure to be heated, allowing racing to start earlier in the year and end later. New scoreboards will be erected at the finish line. The age-old wood-frame timing tower will be razed and replaced with a two-story steel structure. Concession stands and storage will take up the first floor, and the second story will be used for race control, media and two plush suites.

At the other end of the facility will be a pit for mud bog racing, plus a track for pulling meets; an NTPA Grand National event is slated July 18-19. That portion of the property will also be the site of a three-day bluegrass and gospel music festival June 6-8.

Wells has hired a full-time track manager in Satch Gragg of Granite Falls, who spent 30 years helping the International Hot Rod Association put on events at the division and national level. Gragg served in nearly every capacity for IHRA: technical inspector, starter, race operations, and a division director.

Beyond the outward makeover, Wells has another goal for the facility.

"I want to create a place for family-oriented experience rather than, for lack of a better word, rednecks and drunks, so to speak," Wells said. "I'm trying to get the family aspect back into this facility.

"It's pretty much an extension of what we already had going on. I saw an opportunity to take something and make it a little bit better. I feel like we can make a No. 1 race track out of it."

Wells said he expects to spend "close to" a million dollars to give the place the makeover.

Some would ask if he's nuts to invest part of his fortune in such pursuits. I asked that question of him, too.

"Crazy?" he pondered.

Then he grinned.

"I passed that years ago."