DestinationFAY

After two more Convertible races at Champion in '57, NASCAR deemed the track a good venue to host a race for its top-of-the-line Grand National – now Monster Energy Cup – division. In the first of four such races at Champion and before a crowd of 3,500 fans, Rex White won by half a lap over Lee Petty. Both those men would eventually be enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In fact, Fayetteville-area racing fans have seen a large contingent of NASCAR Hall of Famers compete on its asphalt and dirt speedways. In all, at least 16 drivers who battled at three Fayetteville tracks are immortalized in the Charlotte hall, including: seven-time Cup champions Richard Petty (one of Lee's sons) and Dale Earnhardt, another father-son duo in Buck and Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison, former moonshiner Junior Johnson, Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, Glen Wood (whose team competes to this day in the Cup ranks), Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly, Wendell Scott and Cale Yarborough. There's more: Racers who have turned laps in Fayetteville – including Ernie Irvan and DeWayne "Tiny" Lund – have a collective 23 victories in the Daytona 500. Richard Petty leads them all, having won NASCAR's premier event seven times. Stock-car racing's "King Richard" made his lone start in Fayetteville on Nov. 9, 1958. The other hall of fame member to race here was three-time NASCAR titlist David Pearson. During the lifespan of Fayetteville Speedway, a 3/8ths-mile dirt track less than a mile north of Champion, Pearson made an annual appearance to race as part of his NASCAR sponsorship package from Purolator, a filter manufacturer that operates a plant near the track. Early in its history, in 1961, that same speedway hosted a motorcycle race d Cliffdale Recreation Center, 6404 Cliffdale Rd., 910 -433-1127, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d College Lakes Recreation Center, 4945 Rosehill Rd., 910 -433-1564, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d E.E. Miller Recreation Center, 1347 Rim Rd., 910 -433-1220, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d Eastover-Central Recreation Center, 3637 Pembroke Lane, 910 -433-1226, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d Dorothy Gilmore Therapeutic Recreation Center, 1600 Purdue Dr. , 910 -433-1000, Hours: Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. d John Dove "J.D." Pone Sr. Recreation Center at Gray's Creek, 2964 School Rd., 910 -433-1015, Monday through Friday noon-8 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Sunday d Kiwanis Recreation Center, 352 Devers St., 910 -433-1568, Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d Lake Rim Recreation Center, 1455 Hoke Loop Rd., 910 -433-1175, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday closed d Massey Hill Recreation Center, 1612 Camden Rd., 910 -433-1569, Monday through Friday 1-7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m., closed on Sunday. d G.B. Myers Recreation Center, 1018 Rochester Dr., 910 -433-1570, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d Pine Forest Recreation Center, 6901 Ramsey St., 910 -433-1196, Monday through Friday noon-8 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Sunday. d Smith Recreation Center, 1520 Slater Ave., 910 -433-1571, Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d J.S. Spivey Recreation Center, 500 Fisher St., 910 -433-1572, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d Fayetteville Senior Center, 739 Blue St., 910 -433-1574, Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. d Stedman Recreation Center, 175 Circle Dr., 910 -433-1440, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d Stoney Point Recreation Center, 7411 Rockfish Rd., 910 -433-1435, Monday through Friday 1-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. d Tokay Senior Fitness Center, 328 W. Hamilton St., 910 -433-1414, Monday through Friday 7 a.m.-3 p..m d Westover Recreation Center, 267 Bonanza Dr., 910 -433-1088, Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. Raymond Johnson, III and Corey Beizzell at Tokay Park Recreation PHOTO BY TONY WOOTEN 30 DestinationFAY 2021-2022

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