"Live" from Galot Division 2 Divisional 2016

[mitch kight]

Any fuel there for sale? Race there in the 70's and 80's. big change! Will be there tonight!

[Larry Hill]

It is 72 this morning and overcast, going up to 90 later this afternoon. There is a little chance of rain showing for Friday night. Right now Sunday is the only day that there is more than just little showers! Saturday's chances are in the later afternoon. So ya'll come on down! There is parking and tech today along with test and tune. Then a Big Dog Pro Mod show to watch tonight!


More later!


Patsy

[Larry Hill]

Oh, Mitch!
On the road (242) coming into the track, there is a VP place that said race fuel available. Maybe someone from the track here can tell you if any other is here.

[Mike Delahanty]

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."

[ALMACK]

Originally Posted by Mark Howes

50 amp service for 25 a day! Sign me up!

Seems like a fair price to me for not having to run a generator....especially when it's over 80 deg. outside.

Thanks for posting the pics Patsy & Larry.
That's a nice looking track

[Larry Hill]

Here are a few from today:



Mike Trueffel SS/BM



Eddie's GT/EA



Joel Warren SS



Jeff Warren A/S



SS/



Adam Badgett FS/F

[Michael Beard]

My partner in Loose Rocker Promotions, Anthony Walton, is the manager there. They've certainly raised the bar!

[HR9121]

Originally Posted by mitch kight

Any fuel there for sale? Race there in the 70's and 80's. big change! Will be there tonight!

VP sold at the track, not sure if any others will be there also.

[jim morgan]

when I called a few weeks ago it was VP 112 and 110 out of a pump didn't have
C12 or C11 may need to call the track

[HR9121]

Originally Posted by jim morgan

when I called a few weeks ago it was VP 112 and 110 out of a pump didn't have
C12 or C11 may need to call the track

This certainly might be correct, I didn't think to ask what flavors they had.