1960s in Coastal Carolina

Starting in the summer of 1964, several local "outlaw" tracks sprang up in my area. The grand old matriarch of our local racing, Rambi Raceway at Myrtle Beach was experiencing problems. The pre-war coupe bodies of the modifieds were getting hard to find, and Rambi was among the very first NASCAR tracks to allow "late model" modifieds to compete with the coupes. This was being pushed from the offices in Daytona Beach, but was not meeting with a lot of success out in the field. There was some grumbling from the regular modified guys and there was a change of management at Rambi, former driver, Tommy Newton, of Myrtle Beach, began promoting the races, at Rambi. This was also met with mixed reviews and it wasn't long before Rambi was on the ropes.

The modifieds had, even then, priced the average fan in the stands out of seriously competing. There was definitely a vacuum on the local level. And like all natural phenomena, this vacuum was quickly filled with the advent of local "jalopy" and "eastern late model" racing on bull ring tracks in our area. They all came into existence at about the same time. The first was the "Conway Raceway" at Conway, SC. This was followed by the "Carolina Beach Speedway" at Wilmington, NC, "Twin City Raceway" at Loris, SC, "Leland Raceway" at Leland, NC, and the crown jewel of them all, the "Grand Strand Raceway" , later re-named "Little River Raceway" at Little River, SC.

With the opening of these tracks, average guys could become heroes, and many did. Chevy's could run the 283 cu. in. engine and the Fords, at first, had to run a 292 cu. in. The Chevy was the way to go, and the Fords after some protesting in 1967, were allowed to run the more potent 289.

Little River Raceway, was symmetrically laid out. Each turn and each straight were alike. They had put a lot of thought into the facility, the front stretch and the first and second turns were, actually, "dug down" below the natural grade level. As you will recall, in those grand old days, there were no retaining walls, except in front of the grand stand area. And all the rest of the way around the track, if a racer got to close to the edge, he would vanish from sight over the embankment, often resulting in a flip or other atrocities. At Little River, when one ran off of the first and second turns, the lucky driver would be back on level ground! The track was high banked and was a 3/8 mile red clay oval. It was super fast for its day and that was the track that my dad really zeroed in on. It was less than 20 miles from our home and a lot of local folks started following the action there. The b/w photo of the '57 Chevy #71 on the NC Vintage site won many races at Little River and was protested many times. All in vain. Everybody swore that we had a 327 engine that "had been to California and built in our living room". The gospel truth was it was a brand new engine that had been purchased straight from City Chevrolet in Charlotte, NC.

What they did NOT know was that Chevrolet had built a "special" 283 in 1961 for the Corvette. The heads on this special engine flowed much better that a conventional 283, although it used the same valves. Our car was the first in our area to use tubing headers and a Crane cam. The car had a quick change rear and we had it dialed into Little River. Like race cars of today, it was the total package, not just the engine. We would tell all of our rivals this story. It was so simple that they would not believe it!!! But, it was the truth.

Little River Raceway was built by the collective efforts of a local, formed corporation. This group was formed and sold with the idea that huge profits were "just around the corner". As is true in virtually any business endeavor, years are required before huge profits roll in, if they ever do. After a few years of operation, the group was getting restless. And, one of the key members passed away. The track was bantered around for a couple more seasons under different lease agreements without much success. And, the track was setting on some extremely PRIME real estate. So, it does not take a crystal ball to figure out what happened. It is the present day site of the Eagles Nest Golf Course. But, it was the finest local dirt track that has ever been in the southeastern coastal area. Finally, as a last nail in the coffin, Rambi raceway in Myrtle Beach, after sitting idle for three or four summers, was purchased and re-opened as Myrtle Beach Speedway in 1969 by Nick Lucas. This really took the wind out of Little River. The last time that we ran there was in the spring of 1971, in a '66 Chevelle. Dad won the race that night but because of a scoring miscue the victory was awarded to Billy Hardee of Little River. Billy Hardee is now the co-owner and operator of Myrtle Beach Speedway along with Mr. Lucas.

Bobby Williamson
Shallotte, NC