Laurel Fairground Race Track

Click here to see video taken about 1959

(20 second Video - 1MB - Best viewed in Windows Media Player)

Grandstands of the Laurel Fairground Race Track. Picture taken at the Labor Day race in 1955.

One lap to go before the start of the Labor Day race at Laurel in 1955

Pictures donated by L.C. Gorday.

At the end of the 1965 racing season the Laurel Fairgrounds Track underwent an upgrade. The old dirt track was paved and the grandstands were expanded. This was done because of the popularity of the Asphalt tracks in Florida and Alabama and the high speeds of the Super Modifies. Below are some pictures taken from one of the popular racing magazines of the day "The Speed Scoop News".

Pictures donated by Bo Freeman

As told by Mississippi Racing Historian Jack Brown: I was there the night it opened with the new pavement.  When we got there about 6pm and they were still  putting down asphalt between the front stretch and the pits.  The posts for the outside guardrail were so fresh, the first car that hit them pulled most of them out of the ground.  Truly a unique track with tons of history.  Now it is completely gone, made into a parking lot for the fairgrounds.   The only thing left is the little piece of road that led to the pit entrance just north of where that ticket booth in the picture was located.