Super Eight Speedway

Greetings from Jasper, Alabama

From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”

 Super Eight Speedway  – Lifetime track #227

The Super Eight Speedway in Jasper, Alabama is officially listed as my 227th lifetime track.  I did not begin writing my famous “Trackchaser Reports” until the middle of the year 2000.  My first official Trackchaser Report was written for track #425, the State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Missouri.  Therefore much of I can tell you is from memory (as limited as it is).


On July 23, 1993 I began one of my “classic” trackchasing trips.  What’s a classic trackchasing trip?  It’s a trip that starts on Friday and ends on Sunday.  Normally with a trip like this I would end up seeing three and sometimes four tracks.  At the time I was living in California so a trip to Alabama meant covering a lot of distance.


I would see the Super Eight Speedway, later known as the Central Alabama Speedway on Friday, July 23.  The next day I moved over to the Birmingham Fairgrounds in Birmingham, Alabama for their show on asphalt.  I capped off the weekend with my first ever visit to the Talladega Superspeedway seeing Dale Earnhardt Sr. win the NASCAR Winston Cup race.





What made this trackchasing weekend to Alabama so memorable was Davey Allison’s death earlier in the week.  Davey, an up and coming very successful NASCAR racer had crashed his helicopter while trying to land in the infield of the Talladega Superspeedway.  A day later he would succumb to his injuries.  Davey was from Hueytown, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.


NASCAR has had some tragic deaths of drivers including Alan Kulwicki and Dale Earnhardt Sr.  However, Davey Allison’s death seemed to attract the attention of all NASCAR fans and especially so in his home state of Alabama.  At the Birmingham Fairgrounds on Saturday night of this trip Davey’s sister spoke to the crowd and expressed her appreciation for their support.  It was a sad evening of racing in Birmingham.




Then the next day at Talladega, Davey’s Havoline Oil sponsored Ford #28 was driven around the track by itself at a slow pace in a memorial to Davey Allison.  You could have heard a pin drop with that single car on the track.  It was a very emotional moment for so many at the track that day in Alabama.


I honestly don’t have too many memories of my evening at the Super Eight Speedway.  My notes do tell me that the announcer was a woman.  She was a “Dolly Parton” soundalike.  I do recall having a special remembrance of the track’s location in Jasper, Alabama.  Our nephew, Scott, was born in Jasper when Carol’s sister and husband Neal lived there while working for the Arch Coal Company.


It was trackchasing weekend’s like this one where I could tie in some local oval track racing with a big national event like Talladega that I enjoyed so much.  Talladega Superspeedway is one of my favorite NASCAR tracks.  I’ve been back a couple of more times since my initial visit.  When the Talladega race weekend comes on TV it’s one of my favorites. 

According to the History of American Speedways authored by Allan Brown racing first began at the Super Eight Speedway in 1968.  They raced there from 1991-1998 as well.  The track was known in later years at the Central Alabama Speedway.

You might have remembrances about this track.  If so, please feel free to share them 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.