Attala Speedway

First Mississippi visit – 1987.

My very first track to see in Mississippi was visited back on Saturday night July 25, 1987.  I went there with our oldest son J.J.  He would have been 12 years old at the time.  We were living in California in 1987.  What were a California father and son doing in Mississippi on a warm July evening so far from home?  J.J. was just coming back from “space camp” in Huntsville, Alabama.  J.J. always had an interest in our space program and flying in general.  How did that turn out?  He got his private pilot’s license at about age twenty.  Then a few years later he became a commercial airline pilot.  Today he flies for one of the “majors” and enjoys it very much.


That trackchaser visit was some 27 years ago as this is written.  J.J. is now 39 years old!  It’s funny that despite our visit being so long ago I still have a couple of remembrances of most places I visited back in the day.  I didn’t begin writing my famous Trackchaser Reports until about track #430.  As you can see the Attala Speedway was track #170.  

Nevertheless, I do remember a few things about Kosciusko, Mississippi.  It had a very high percentage of African Americans living in town.  Demographic information tells me that about 45% of Kosciusko’s residents are African-American.  Kosciusko is small.  It had just about 7,300 residents.  Possibly the most notable resident to come from Kosciusko is Oprah Winfrey.  She lived there until she was six.

I remember the little dirt oval as being dimly lit.  Over time I’ve won my share of “lucky ticket number” drawings at the tracks I have visited.  During our visit to the Attala Speedway our ticket number was drawn for a local restaurant’s door prize.  I sent J.J. down to the announcer’s stand to pick up our winnings.  I remember the announcer telling the crowd, “We have folks coming all the way from California to see our little races here in Mississippi”.  On this night he was correct in saying that.

You might have remembrances about the Attala Speedway.  If so, please feel free to share in the comments section below.  If you have any photos from back in the day, send them to me at Ranlay@yahoo.com.  I’ll try to include them here.