Copyright 2023 © GretchenGriffith.com
Racing On and Off the Road
In Caldwell County and Surrounding Areas
In this memoir, Johnny Mack Turner and Gretchen Griffith offer an action packed
account of motor racing in western North Carolina’s Caldwell County and the
surrounding area. From his roots in the history of the region through tales of on and
off the road drag races, circle tracks and motocross events, Johnny opens his
scrapbook to the world, and with the help of numerous others, gives a glimpse into
a culture seldom revealed.
Motor racing has been an unavoidable element of reality for several
generations in Caldwell County whether as eager participants, or as
interested bystanders, or just from being engulfed by the deafening roar
of the distant engines. The book takes the reader back in time to
western North Carolina’s racing beginnings in the moonshine industry
and the chases involving the moonshiner and the revenuer. It unearths
stories of early morning, on the road, organized drag racing. It traces
the development of dragstrips and circle tracks in the county. Most
revealing of all, it contains the life stories of numerous men involved in
racing who call Caldwell County home. The passion to control the power
of the engine unfolds in a most remarkable story captured in this
memoir. This book is a must read to fill in the gaps of understanding
what North Carolina is all about.
Caldwell County men on the covers
On the front cover
Max Prestwood - Four time track champion at Hickory Speedway
in Catawba County, North Carolina and Tri-County Speedway in
Caldwell County; NASCAR Mid-Atlantic Title; Winston Racing
Series National Championship 1990
On the back cover
Mac Martin - Car owner, NASCAR Busch Series; Stanley Tool
sponsorship; owned winning car of 1995 Darlington 500
Johnny Price - Car owner, NASCAR Late Model Stock Division; True
Blue Ford devotee
Don Carlton - Chrysler Corporation factory backed driver of
Motown Missile; featured on the cover of January, 1972 Hot Rod
Magazine; won six major National Hot Rod Associations races
Johnny Mack Turner - Co-author of this book
with Curtis Turner (not from Caldwell County)
Dick Greene - Early 1950’s professional AMA Motorcycle Racer
Hubert Ennis – 1963 Lenoir Burke Speedway (North Carolina)
track champion in both Hobby and Sport Division
Raymond Wilson - Longtime winning drag racer; car owner
Working on this project brought back fond memories to co-author, Gretchen Griffith.
Although she avoided the garage where her father and brother spent many hours
tinkering with cars, she did accompany them to races at Bowman Gray Stadium in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she wolfed down French fries sprinkled with malt
vinegar while watching her favorite, the demolition derbies. The opportunity to co-author
this book on racing brought her full circle to honor those childhood memories and her
father, Glenn Holsopple and brother, Glenn, Jr.