Paul Bitterman bought Westminster Motorsports Speedway Park 8 years ago, holding off on reopening until he felt the economic climate was right. That time is now for the South Carolina dirt oval that last ran in 2011.
“As of today, we took down 5,000 mature pine trees, and we’re still taking them down,” Bitterman said. “When I bought Westminster Speedway, there was nothing but a dirt pathway through the brush to a trailer. The pine trees were growing up through the bleachers, in the track, over the dance hall, and all around the announcing tower.”
Bitterman may be the perfect person for the job — he’s in the tree business. He partnered up with Brent McGarity, owner of Golden Corner Trucking & Grading, as they undertook the final process of bringing back the track.
“Brent brought in the big equipment, and within a few days we had a visible racetrack again,” said Bitterman. “I looked at several speedways before I chose this one. Now seeing it as a racetrack again, thanks to Brent, has made me know I made the right choice.”
Bitterman hopes to reopen Westminster Motorsports Speedway Park in the middle of the season.
“We have to crawl before we can walk,” Bitterman said. “We’ll most likely open with an enduro, but in the long run we would like to see dirt late models, open wheel classes, flat-track motorcycles, and tractor pulls.”
Rebuilding the grandstand has started. Then will come fences, concession stands, bathrooms, and more.
“We may have to run in the daylight until we get things right,” said Bitterman. “We also may have to run on Sundays. There are Saturday-night tracks nearby in every direction. Everyone says you can’t run on Sunday in the South, but I have a plan.”
Bitterman bought pews for the dance hall.
“We’ll probably have church services at the track before the driver’s meeting,” Bitterman said. “That also works with my plan to have a family-oriented show. We won’t open too early if we run on Sunday and we won’t run late. There won’t be alcoholic beverages sold. Drivers will attend the service and hopefully respect each other on the track and in the pits.”
In an earlier life, Bitterman raced pavement in Western New York. He saw first-hand the fighting and destruction that can grow between teams at a racetrack.
“We don’t want that reputation here,” said Bitterman. “We know that many people have a negative view of racing. There will be rules set — we’ll stand behind those rules. We want all attendees to behave themselves. Drivers will treat other drivers the way they would want to be treated.”
Bitterman added that he has received mostly positive feedback from the town of Westminster, South Carolina, on the track’s reopening.
“Westminster’s people are praying for us to come back full tilt,” Bitterman said. “We will be good for the local economy. We’ll make Westminster a destination for people from Georgia and North Carolina, as well as South Carolina.”
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.
