When Bill Whisenant retired from the auto salvage business, he thought his dream retirement job would be to own and promote his local speedway. Two seasons ago, Whisenant took over Texarkana 67 Speedway in Texarkana, Arkansas. Now it is for sale, with an asking price of $850,000.
Whisenant watched the track as it was being built in 1997.
“My friend, Clarence Hickey, built the track,” Whisenant said. “He soon passed away, and the track was leased to different promoters over the years. I always loved racing, and it was a little old hometown track that I loved. The last owner was a construction guy. I hit him up about it, and he sold it to me.”
Whisenant then proceeded to make improvements. He adjusted the banking and the clay surface. Whisenant added a new concrete wall and fencing, as well as lighting around the track. He and his team cleaned and restored every building.
“Our goal was to move away from the track’s redneck reputation,” said Whisenant. “We wanted that style of racetrack to disappear, and we made it into a family-oriented entertainment venue. We had no trouble in the last two seasons. Everything went smoothly and we made it a place you could bring your kids and not worry.”
With a fresh facelift, Whisenant brought in traveling series to add to a weekly program sanctioned by USRA. The American Sprint Car Series (ASCS), Bandits Outlaw Sprint Series (BOSS), and the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series paid visits.
However, the amount of work demanded by the racetrack took a toll on Whisenant.
“I just wanted to enjoy retirement and didn’t want to be tied down,” Whisenant said. “I soon learned that running a racetrack is a full-time business. There is so much to do — from keeping it clean and mowed, promoting shows, and keeping the books. I thought it would be something to piddle with, but it turned out to be a lot more of a job then I thought it would be.”
Now Bill Whisenant has put his hometown track, the one he put so much work into to revitalize, up for sale.
Texarkana 67 Speedway sits on 60 acres between I-30 and Highway 67. It is visible from the Interstate. Whisenant is asking for $850,000 for the property, and the grader and water truck come included. Parties interested in purchasing Texarkana 67 Speedway can reach Bill Whisenant at 903-277-1941.
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.
