After five years dormant, Penton Motor Speedway reopened this month, thanks to promoter Calvin Pike (pictured driving) and his staff. Their hard work resulted in a record crowd and car count at the LaFayette, Alabama, clay oval.
“I’ve been working all day and all night to get this track opened,” Pike, 46, said. “To see more than 1,000 fans and 60 cars last Friday night made me know it was all worth it.”
The track was built in 1981. After its owner, Larry Edge, passed away, his family did not wish to continue operating the track. Pike said he wanted to see the track continue Edge’s legacy. He agreed with the Edge family to a three-year lease, with an option to buy.
“I’ve been racing since I was 17, and my first race and feature win was at Penton Motor Speedway,” said Pike. “My business sponsored cars that raced there over the years. It is my hometown track, and it was a shame to see it sitting there idle.”
Pike owns Extreme Auto and Truck Repair in LaGrange, Georgia.
“I’m not operating the speedway for the money,” Pike said. “I’m doing it for the sport. I make my money from my business Too many racetracks are closing.”
Penton Motor Speedway will host a full schedule this season. Weekly classes include 604 and 602 late models, hobby stocks, front-wheel-drive Hot Shots, and bombers. They’re still negotiating with several traveling series to make stops as well.
“We’ve made so many improvements to the facility,” said Pike. “The buildings have a facelift, there is new lighting, speaker system, clay, and LED caution-light system.”
Bill Edge, son of the track’s founder, is also helping Pike by grading the track’s surface.
“There’s been nothing but positive feedback,” Pike said. “The future looks bright for our home track.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
