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You asked: What’s going on with the Southampton Motor Speedway in Capron?

BY BRIAN WHITT/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
bmwhitt@mail.roanoke.edu

CAPRON—Owner David Atkinson from the Richmond area said he has no immediate plans to re-open Southampton Motor Raceway.

Located one mile west of Capron on Highway 58, the 4/10-of-a-mile, high-banked former dirt track was developed and opened in 2000 by John Fox, Jimmy Lee, Bob Felts, David White and Hunter Darden, most of whom are from Western Tidewater.

It drew decent sized crowds for several years, but was sold around 2006, and asphalt was put in, Fox said.

Paving the track displeased a lot of fans and the business went downhill until it shut down in 2008, he said. When the track was in its prime, it attracted people from all over Virginia and North Carolina.

Events are occasionally held there. Vicksville Hunt Club from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 14, will host a car and motorcycle show at the track. The $15 tickets include food and beverages. About100 entries are expected, said hunt club member David Warren.

They chose the location because of the nature of the event, Warren added.

Amanda Jarrett, executive director and president for Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc., said any additional businesses like a racetrack would be good news for the area.

For one, it would create jobs.