Wed, 20 Feb 2019, 18:47 PM Roxboro Motorsports Park Joins IHRA Family

Courtesy of IHRA Communications

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Roxboro Motorsports Park is a place fit for a King as well as top sportsman racers.

The 42-acre Timberlake, N.C., facility, which recently entered into a multi-year sanctioning agreement with the IHRA, features an 1/8-mile drag strip and a rich history dating back 60 years. Some of the biggest names in the Carolinas have drag raced here including seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty.

First opened in 1959 as Person County Dragway, it was renamed Roxboro Dragway in 1970. Another name change took place in 2006 when it became Roxboro Motorsports Park. In 2014, the track got a major upgrade which included grinding and polishing the track, new electronic timing and sensors and renovated restrooms.

In his second year as track owner, Jody Williams has continued to make upgrades to the facility while respecting its longtime tradition. Racers from the Carolinas and from nearby border in Virginia compete at Roxboro as well as the occasional visitors as far north as Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Roxboro Motorsports Park features both a strong grudge racing contingent and a growing bracket racing program. It's a major reason why Williams chose to join the IHRA and to be a part of the IHRA Summit SuperSeries, the largest and most prestigious bracket racing program in drag racing.

"We've got a good bunch of bracket racers and we have some good grudge races coming up," Williams said. "We feel the IHRA Summit SuperSeries will help us on the bracket racing end. We're just trying to improve everything and see where it goes."

The 2019 schedule opens on Sunday, March 17 with a St. Patrick's Day food drive, test-n-tune and a gambler's race. Points racing for the IHRA Summit SuperSeries begins six days later on Saturday, March 23.

Roxboro Motorsports Park also will be eligible to compete in the IHRA Division 1 (Patriots) Summit Team Finals.

Beyond drag racing, Williams is bringing in truck pulls, mud bogs and concerts to the facility. There are racing and other events lined up through the first weekend of November on the current schedule.

Unlike many track owners, Williams isn't a race car driver. However, he's quickly learned many of the nuances of the sport and has proven to be popular with the racers, listening to their ideas and concerns.

"I've never been a drag racer. It's been new to me and a learning experience," Williams said. "I've learned that everybody has a little different opinion, but after the first year, it's been like 100 percent praise to where the track was and where it is now. We've got a lot of support and we look forward to moving it forward."

For more information about Roxboro Motorsports Park, click here to visit the track's website. Click here for a list of IHRA member tracks.

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