Some of the best memories in West Virginia smell like hot rubber, burgers on the grill, and sound like thunder rolling off the hills. Picture a quiet country road and a few open fields, then a sudden roar that shakes your chest and makes you grin.
The little drag strip behind that sound almost vanished for good, until one family and a whole community decided it was worth saving. Pull up a lawn chair, because this comeback story is one every gearhead and hometown fan should hear.
A Mason County Eighth-Mile Along Kanawha Valley Road
Drive far enough down Kanawha Valley Road in Mason County, and you will hear it before you see it. Engines crackle to life, tires squeal, and a crowd cheers from the sidelines.
That sound is coming from Kanawha Valley Dragway, a racing venue most folks around here now call Southside Dragway.
The track sits in the small community of Southside, West Virginia, surrounded by the kind of green, rolling country that makes the Mountain State famous. It is not a giant speedway with skyboxes and big city traffic.
Instead, it is an eighth-mile drag strip where two cars line up side by side and race in a straight line to see who reaches the finish first.
Short tracks like this have long been the heartbeat of weekend fun in rural West Virginia. Racers bring everything from everyday street cars to serious race machines.
Spectators get a front-row look at the action without big-arena hassle.
The name change can confuse first-time visitors, so keep both names in mind when searching. Regulars often point out that the old sign and the new one belong to the same beloved strip.
Whatever you call it, the spirit here feels proudly homegrown.
Roots Reaching Back to 1958
Long before smartphones and streaming, West Virginia gearheads were already chasing the quickest time down a strip of pavement. The state’s first organized drag strip, an earlier Kanawha Valley Drag Strip near Winfield in Putnam County, reportedly opened in 1958.
It ran until 1976, and many older racers still talk about it with a twinkle in their eyes.
The Mason County track came later, carrying a similar name and a whole new chapter. Kanawha Valley Raceway opened in 1994 as a 1/8-mile strip, and it soon became a regular stop for International Hot Rod Association sanctioned events.
That kind of backing gave local drivers a real stage to test their skills.
For more than twenty years, the place served as a weekend gathering spot for families across the region. Kids grew up watching fathers and uncles tinker in the pits.
Friends settled friendly rivalries, and the smell of race fuel became as familiar as Sunday supper.
Some regulars say they were there when the gates first opened in the nineties and spent countless weekends in the stands afterward. Memories like those help explain why so many people cared deeply when the track’s future started to look shaky.
The Quiet Years After the For Sale Sign
Every small town knows the ache of watching a favorite hangout go quiet. For the Mason County racing crowd, that feeling arrived around 2017, when co-owner Tim Bell put the raceway up for sale.
Reports at the time pointed to a tougher economy and what seemed like fading interest in drag racing.
The property eventually sold to an undisclosed buyer, and the news only got gloomier from there. Headlines claimed the strip would be torn out, with the land reportedly headed toward becoming a private home and a horse farm.
For many longtime fans, it looked like the final lap.
Years passed with no engines, no crowds, and no Friday night lights. Weeds pushed up through the cracks, and the asphalt that once carried so many dreams slowly gave way to nature.
Passing drivers could only glance at the empty grounds and remember louder days.
Still, the memories never really left. Folks traded stories at diners and gas stations about wild passes and old rivalries, keeping the place alive in conversation.
Looking back, those quiet years may have made the eventual comeback feel even sweeter, because everyone knew exactly what they had almost lost for good.
Seven Muscle Cars Traded for a Dream
Here is a question worth asking any car lover: would you sell seven of your own hand-built muscle cars to save a racetrack? Earl Smith reportedly did exactly that.
Near the end of 2023, the local racing fan bought the dormant property and funded the project by parting with machines he had spent years building.
That kind of sacrifice tells you everything about his motivation. It was never just a business deal.
Earl wanted to hear engines echo off those hills again, and he wanted the next generation of racers to have a home track like the one he remembered.
His son, Ben Smith, jumped in right beside him. Together, the father-and-son team cleared, repaired, and rebuilt, giving the old raceway its new name, Southside Dragway.
Their goal was simple and generous: make every type of racer feel welcome, from seasoned pros to nervous rookies.
Neighbors and local businesses noticed the effort and pitched in. Area companies and organizations reportedly donated fire extinguishers, picnic tables, and jersey barriers to help the facility get back on its feet.
In true West Virginia fashion, a whole community rolled up its sleeves to help one family chase a dream.
Grip, Wheelies, and a Brand-New Timing Clock
Racers can be picky folks, and they will tell you quickly whether a track is worth their time. At Southside, the word on the racing surface has been glowing.
Regulars say it has earned a reputation for hooking hard, which means tires grip the pavement and launch cars forward with serious force.
That grip leads to some memorable moments. Visitors describe watching big wheelies, personal best runs, and emotional class victories that end with hugs in the winner’s circle.
When a car lifts its front wheels off the starting line, the whole crowd seems to hold its breath.
Behind the scenes, the owners keep upgrading. A brand-new timing system arrived toward the end of 2024, helping races run fairly and giving drivers accurate numbers for every pass.
For bracket racers who live by their elapsed times, that upgrade matters a great deal.
Bigger improvements are reportedly on the way too. Plans call for paving the track and pit roads between the 2025 and 2026 seasons, leading up to a grand reopening slated for spring 2026.
Talk of a VIP room with modern comforts and even a possible oval track has surfaced, though the drag strip remains the main focus.
Race Nights From Junior Dragsters to No-Prep Thunder
Picture a single evening that includes a daily driver making its very first pass, a junior dragster chasing big dreams, and a high-horsepower machine that sounds like a thunderstorm. That mix is exactly what regulars love most about race night here.
Every vehicle seems to come with its own story.
The schedule leans on two popular formats. No-prep races, where drivers battle on a surface without the usual traction treatment, bring raw and unpredictable excitement.
ET bracket events reward consistency, since racers try to hit a predicted time rather than simply go the fastest.
The very first event after the 2024 reopening was a no-prep race, and it reportedly drew packed crowds of cars and spectators. Special events since then have pulled in thousands of fans.
One recent visitor was thrilled to spot the guys from the Street Outlaws TV show at the track on a Saturday evening.
Newcomers also notice how smoothly things move. First-time guests mention that the crew keeps races rolling with very little down time, so you spend more of the night watching action and less time waiting.
For families with restless kids, that steady pace can make all the difference.
Pit Stop Burgers and Family Faces at the Gate
Friendly faces greet you before the first engine even fires. Allison Smith, Earl’s wife, is often found welcoming guests at the gate.
Down in the staging lanes, Ben directs traffic and keeps the timing on track, while Earl seems to be everywhere at once.
Racers say Earl rarely misses a chance to offer a fist bump and a heartfelt thanks for coming. Small touches like that turn strangers into regulars.
Visitors describe a place where racers help racers, fans become friends, and even out-of-state guests leave with new pals.
Families appreciate that the grounds feel clean and kid friendly. Folks mention bumping into old friends they had not seen in years, which gives certain nights the feel of a hometown reunion.
It is the sort of setting where grandparents, parents, and little ones can all enjoy the same show.
Hungry? You are in luck.
The Pit Stop earns plenty of praise, and its hamburgers get special mention from racers who have tried their share of track food. Others simply say the food is good, which is high praise from a crowd that knows a proper burger.
Grab one, find a seat, and settle in for the rumble.
Friday and Saturday Night Trip Planning
Planning ahead will save you some guesswork, since details can change from season to season. Set hours and ticket prices are not listed in the information available, so your best bet is the dragway’s Facebook group, which serves as its main online home.
Event dates, race formats, and updates usually show up there first.
Race action typically happens on weekend nights. The track’s official videographer encourages newcomers to come out on a Friday or Saturday night, and many regulars follow that same rhythm.
Checking the schedule before you leave home helps make sure the gates are open.
Getting there means heading into the countryside of Mason County. The venue sits at 25845 Kanawha Valley Rd, Southside, WV 25187, and most visitors simply plug that address into their GPS.
Roads out this way can be winding, so give yourself extra travel time.
Bring a lawn chair or blanket if you like to settle in, plus ear protection for the little ones, since the engines truly scream. Keep in mind that paving work planned between the 2025 and 2026 seasons could affect some dates.
A quick look online before you go is well worth the minute it takes.
A Hometown Track Worth Every Mile
Some places earn loyalty the hard way, and this little eighth-mile strip has done just that. It survived a sale, years of silence, and headlines predicting its end.
Today, the engines roar again because one family refused to quit and a community stood behind them.
Fans prove their devotion with their miles. One visitor happily drove four and a half hours to get here and called the trip worth it.
Another group makes the journey from Northern Ohio, praising what they describe as an awesome old school track.
Is it fancy? Not really, and that is part of the charm.
What you get instead is honest racing, a welcoming crew, tasty burgers, and a crowd that treats newcomers like neighbors, and with Mason County reportedly having no noise ordinance, the thunder can roll freely.
For West Virginians who remember when weekends meant loud cars and good company, a night here feels like stepping back into the good old days with a fresh coat of paint. Racers, retirees, and curious families alike will likely find something to love.
Do you have a favorite memory from the old Kanawha Valley track? It might be time to go make a new one.
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