Ray Cook didn’t know he’d not return to Tri-County Race Track until last week. He had leased the Brasstown, North Carolina, track for 12 years.
Track owner Jack Wimpey had passed away at the beginning of the 2023 season. He left the track to his children, who decided to turn it over to realtors to sell. They’re asking $1.25 million for the 30-acre property.
“Sure, I would like to keep running the track, but I’d need a three- to four-month grace period before it changed hands,” said Cook. “Racing week to week was discussed, but that is no recipe for the track’s success.”
There’s still a glimmer of hope for those who’d like to see the property to remain a racetrack. That’s because the Wimpey family wants that, too, according to Cook.
“The Wimpey family is hoping for a quick sell,” Cook said. “I wish someone else could buy it and run it as a racetrack, which the Wimpey family hopes will happen. I’ll try to help them.”
The racing community praised Cook and his wife, Peggy, for their dedication and instilling professionalism into Tri-County Race Track.
“I feel for the local people if the racetrack doesn’t reopen,” Cook, who resides in the same town as the track, said. “It is a local gathering spot for families and it is loved by them.”
Although Ray Cook has announced that he’d no longer promote at his hometown track, he’ll continue his other racing pursuits. That includes promoting his two series — the Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals and Southern Nationals.
In addition, he’ll help promote a new event at I-75 Raceway, just outside of Sweetwater, Tennessee.
The I-75 Winter Championships, will take place on January 25-27, 2024. It consist of a bevy of classes, including super late models, the Cumberland Plateau Open Wheel Series, the Cumberland Plateau Mod Mini Series/Southern Mod4 Mini Association, 604 late models, 602 late models, limited late models, sportsman late models, street stocks, hobby stocks, B-sportsman late models, and front-wheel-drives.
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.
