Old Time Racing (Part 2) - Peace Haven Speedway, Bowman Gray Stadium, & VIR

This 8mm film shows early NASCAR racing at Peace Haven Speedway in Winston-Salem, NC from April 27, 1953 - A.M.A. Motorcycle racing at Dixie Classic Fairgrounds in Winston-Salem, NC from 1954 - NASCAR racing at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC from January 8, 1955 (Tobacco Bowl) - Exotic Car racing at Virginia International Raceway from 1959.
There are two parts to this film -
Part 1 is all Peace Haven Speedway 1954 (10:23).
Part 2 includes a short clip of Peace Haven Speedway (:26), a short clip of motorcycles at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds in Winston-Salem (:22), a long clip of Bowman Gray Stadium (4:35), and a very long clip of Exotic Car racing at Virginia International Raceway (7:58).
The Bowman Gray Stadium footage is mixed between Sportsman and Amateur clips. The Sportsman cars had large white lettered decals on their roofs.
Drivers in this (Part 2) Bowman Gray Sportsman footage -
Curtis Turner #22A (winner)
Pee Wee Jones #9
Glenn Wood #22
Bobby Myers #14
Billy Myers #4
Ted Swaim #99
Slim Rominger #48
Johnny Roberts #7
Speedy Thompson #72
Ralph Ligouri #17
Joe Weatherly #19
Jim Paschal #80
Wendell Scott

[@flamingosdot]

Oct 24th 1954 my Grandfather Lou Figaro Lost his Life on that Track, Winston Salem North Carolina. Thanks for sharing this video, It shows me what it was like to Race There.

[@EdwinJayLatama]

Which track was it? Peace Haven Speedway, the W-S Fairgrounds Speedway, or Bowman Gray Stadium? I would like to know more about him and what happened.

[@stanky3964]

It’s actually a pretty famous wreck. It would have been North Wilkesboro Speedway, NASCAR Grand National Series. The accident was on the 24th, but he died on the 25th. While running eighth with five laps to go in the race, he flipped his Hudson Hornet on the outside dirt embankment. The car flipped three times, crashed through a wooden fence, and landed upside down. Although the car had a mandatory roll cage, the roof caved in on the driver. He died the next day due to a skull fracture and severe brain damage.

[@Paulbrown336nc]

I love this!! the # 56 in the bowman gray clip is my grandfather! All the pic's i have are black and white, it's cool to see it in color! Them are real men racing in this video!

[@livingstonpaula982]

Come on by he would love the sit down and talk about his racing days

[@EdwinJayLatama]

@Garinth I agree and I'm glad you enjoyed the films.

[@EdwinJayLatama]

@freeman2545 Ain't that the truth! Very few if any of the early racers ever made any money worth mentioning. They did it for fun and love of racing. They were the farmers, factory workers, and gas station attendants out having a good time on the weekends. Big money ruined it.

[@jbncnow]

My uncle Crawford Meeks 07 37 Ford!raced there in this time period!

[@EdwinJayLatama]

@paulandjesslovebirds If you watch the other movie (Part 1) at Peace Haven Speedway, you see Peanut in the #56 again. It's around the 2:55 mark. He makes a couple of laps with the hood up. You can even see "Peanut" written on the door.

[@MatthewAvant]

I am trying to find some old footage like this of Bowman Gray for an interview about racing in the 50's. Would you be able to license this footage to me for such a project? And if so, do you have it in a higher resolution?

[@glodenstrikeworld2218]

My grandfather is #7 Johnny Roberts

[@EdwinJayLatama]

@solaire66 I wish it did, but there was no original sound. They didn't have 8mm home movie cameras with sound back then. I have seen some early racing film on youtube that they've dubbed in some generic racing sound which worked pretty good, though.

[@ecardona53]

4:38 Anyone happen to know who that was upside down?

[@livingstonpaula982]

My daddy raced there in 53, Chick Boggs, he is still living! Is there any more footage his car 18 Jr and 17

[@EdwinJayLatama]

Hey thanks for the info. His car is the one in the thumbnail for this video. It's white with a red stripe across the door. You see him a few times in the footage. Glad to hear he is still around! I'd love to hear his racing stories.

[@hotrodtrucker88]

wish I knew if 99 was my dad he had 99 in sportsman but I tthought it was black 1940 Ford coupe

[@EdwinJayLatama]

The 99 belonged to J.S. Pope of Pope Sand & Gravel on Stratford Road in W-S. J.S. would drive it sometimes but he also let others drive it like Fonty Flock, Billy Myers, and Curtis Turner. In this footage, according to a newspaper article I have, Ted Swaim is driving it. J.S. had Ted drive it a lot and he won a few in the 99.

[@stefanievalenzky2155]

Hello! Where did the Bowman Gray footage come from?

[@EdwinJayLatama]

Hi. As per the description, it's from January 8, 1955. It was a rain date for the annual January 1st Tobacco Bowl race at Bowman Gray. I believe it was filmed by Mr. Larry Jarvis of the Jarvis Battery Company of Winston-Salem but I'm not 100% sure about that. From what I was told, it was found in an attic over 10 years ago and transferred to digital.

[@EdwinJayLatama]

Stefanie, I received a partial reply from you in my notifications but the comment is not showing up here. Did you delete it? I could possibly help with what you were asking.

[@EdwinJayLatama]

@paulandjesslovebirds What was your grandfather's name?

[@EdwinJayLatama]

Do you see him in the film? If so, could you discribe the car and when you see it? Was it "7" or "07"?

[@jbncnow]

no i didnt he was 77 i made a mistake!

[@Paulbrown336nc]

@EdwinJayLatama Peanut Brown #56

[@stefanievalenzky2155]

Hello, I work on the show Race Night At Bowman Gray & we're interested in using a bit of this historical footage in our show. Can you please contact me at [e-mail] Thanks!