It’s true that many drag racing legends including IHRA Hall of Famers Scotty Cannon and Gene Fulton have considered it one of their home tracks. The upstate South Carolina track has plenty of history, first opened by the Greer Jaycees in the 1950s.
Neighbors and other citizens pitched in as it’s served as more than a racing facility, a place for people to gather for fireworks and other entertainment.
“It’s been here a long time and a lot of good racers have been here,” Greer said. “There are more world champions from here than anywhere.”
Greer Dragway is still going strong all these years later. Tom Ferrell bought the track in 1979 and hired Roland McBee as the track manager. McBee was tragically killed in a car wreck in 1988 and that’s when Greer came on board.
He’s been there ever since, running the place and becoming the owner of the 1/8-mile IHRA-sanctioned facility in 2010. He oversaw the installation of a new concrete track, concrete walls and an up-to-date timing system.
The role of track owner is a natural fit for Greer. Although sometimes he makes running the track look easy, there’s a lot of preparation that goes into a successful race weekend.
“I enjoy the people and I’ve always liked drag racing,” Greer said. “We’ve always done our own thing. It’s not as easy as some people think. It’s a lot more than just show up at the gate.”
Greer was bitten by the racing bug a long time ago. He first started racing a 1968 Mercury Cougar street car and also worked at a Pontiac dealership where he partnered with Roger Benfield and Mike Stewart on race cars.
With his background, he understands the dedication of his racers. While most of their guys are from the upstate South Carolina region or nearby Georgia, they do attract some racers from North Carolina and Tennessee.
In fact, East Tennessee racer Cody Spears represented Greer Dragway in the Sportsman class at the 2021 IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals.
Other Greer Dragway representatives were: Kip Maddox (Top), Chad Dotson (Mod) and Will Dotson (Junior).
Greer talked about the IHRA Summit SuperSeries, the largest and most prestigious bracket racing national championship in North America.
“It’s a good program. We enjoy the bracket finals and I’ve been going to the (IHRA) World Finals every year,” Greer said. “We’ve done well in the bracket finals and I enjoy taking the time off to go to Memphis every year.”
He plans to go along this year as the location has shifted from Memphis to nearby Holly Springs, Mississippi.
As Greer alluded to, they’ve also flourished at the IHRA Division 9 (Raiders) Summit Team Finals. Maddox and Chad Dotson won their respective classes at the 2020 Summit Team Finals, leading to Greer Dragway’s team victory.
It marked back-to-back wins for Greer, also the 2019 Division 9 champions with Joe Gary and Kevin Brannon, a couple of drivers from Boiling Springs, S.C. in an all-Greer Top final. Spears and James Philbeck also faced off in a battle of Greer drivers in the Sportsman final.
Speaking of Boiling Springs, it was also home to NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson, who made some passes down the drag strip as well.
Click here to check the Greer Dragway website and learn more about this historic IHRA-member track.
