Last Saturday, April 1, as Brandon Satterfield and Justin Barber pulled into Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, South Carolina, they received word their shop was on fire. Barber rushed back to the shop he shared with Satterfield, his brother-in-law. Unfortunately, he witnessed a lifetime of racing reduced to ash and rubble.
The previous day, they had a tree removed and burned the remainder of the brush.
“Before we left it was raining a little and not much more was left to be burned,” Barber said. “Everything looked to be fine.”
Unfortunately, the fire spread to the Spartanburg, South Carolina, shop, which then consumed it and everything in it. Among the items lost include: welders, a lift, tire machine, five spare engines, 10 gears, scales, and miscellaneous tools. It also housed three race cars — Brandon’s thunder bomber, Justin’s street stock, and 1 renegade sportsman that needed a body.
When it came to call the insurance company, Barber received a rude awakening.
“Homeowner’s insurance does not cover their building and the significant amount of damages and equipment lost,” said Barber. “I would look into a different policy for the garage if I could do it over.”
Barber won the 2021 street stock championship at Harris Speedway in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Satterfield doesn’t follow a track or series, but runs competitively at many area tracks.
“Racing is what I love to do,” Satterfield said. “I was racing [the renegade sportsman car] for my boss [Jeff Davis]. That’s why the cars were still in the shop. The only thing I have left is a racing suit and my helmet.”
For Barber, his car remained in the shop, too.
“I normally would have had my car loaded to go racing, but I was on call for my job [for the power company],” said Barber. “We have had to build this shop back twice – once for expansion, another time when a tree fell two years ago. This will make it a third time. It is a total loss. All I have left is six tires and wheels and whatever is in my enclosed [trailer].”
The local racing community has banded together to help Brandon Satterfield and Justin Barber.
“”To see them lose everything in the matter of minutes that took years to build is truly heartbreaking,” Harris Speedway promoter Mitchell Coggins said. “We as a track and community are just trying to help get them back to the track.”
Businesses are holding auctions to help the racers. Among them include Harris Speedway, KB Party Rentals, Southern Sisters Boutique, Carolina Upstate Diesel, to name a few. You can find these auctions on Barber’s and Satterfield’s Facebook pages. Melyssa Davis, a friend of the family, has also organized a GoFundMe page to help out, which you can find here.
The Outside Groove contributor from North Carolina grew up in the shop of her racer dad. She started racing V8 stock cars at age 13, competing in the renegades and then moving into the pure stocks.
