Most of you fans going to Eldora have gone through Greenville and long before Eldora, Greenville was the hot spot to race. Many times I have heard people say that Greenville is "gone", but they just didn't know what to look for. It is less than 200 yards off the main drag just south of the fairgrounds. Way before USAC there was the CSRA sprints that ran there often. 5 drivers were killed there and 4 of them died in double fatal accidents (2 crashes that killed 2 drivers each).
These photos were taken in 2006 and the first one is from the CSRA book by Buzz Rose and is one of the very few color photos I have ever seen from the place. If you look closely at the frontstretch wall, below the bleachers, you will see a concrete wall ........
In the modern photos, that's the concrete wall but the photo is taken from the other side of the wall. We were standing where the grandstands had once stood! The 2nd photo shows debris from the collapsed grandstand (we were standing on the old metal roofing!). The third photo shows one of dozens of evenly spaced supports for the covered grandstand.
But the last pictures are the coolest! The ticket booths were still standing! Those photos are from the inside of the ticket booth and you will notice the slot where you stuck your money through........ I put a dollar bill there to say I was the last person to slide my dollar through the window at Greenville.
I know Greenville ran before WWII and ran up to the late 50's.
I saw my first sprint car race here in about 1947 at the age of five. My dad and his cousin took me. We stood along the fence in turn one and the oily dirt left us looking like a minstral cast by the time the day was over. I don't remember who won or even who ran but I know it was very rxciting for a six year old to see the action that day. I have also been to New Bremen 100's of times and we were at the very first race at Eldora. It's a shame Earl sold New Bremen with the conditions as it was a great place to race and/or watch a race. The sound of those Offys echoing through the trees was priceless!
Good story there about Greenville, and I'd love to hear more. Very few fans today remember the place. Most people who remember it well are gone now or just don't get to the races much anymore.
Gotta get to work for now, I will post more photos of Greenville tonight!
