Golden mountain

[3 wide]

Wondering who bought golden mountain speedway in Sparta,to. Thanks

[Mams]

Per DOD new owners are Pat McMilan of Murfreesboro & Rick Waters of Cookeville.

[TerryM]

Which track is this? Previous names?

[Mams]

Which track is this? Previous names?

Appears it has always been Golden Mountain Raceway Park & was only open 2002-05.

[3 wide]

The guy that built golden mountain at the time had a beef with Tennessee motor speedway at Baxter,tn so he built this race track to put them out of business turns out they are both out of business.

[TerryM]

The guy that built golden mountain at the time had a beef with Tennessee motor speedway at Baxter,tn so he built this race track to put them out of business turns out they are both out of business.

That’s crazy. Back in the 90’s, I used to make it a point to visit 5 or 6 new tracks a year. Baxter was one of them. I only went once, but it was nice. The facility was really nice. Was Golden better?

[B_K]

Tennessee Motor Speedway was a nicer facility than Golden Mtn IMO. Golden Mountain was a decent joint though.

[TerryM]

Tennessee Motor Speedway was a nicer facility than Golden Mtn IMO. Golden Mountain was a decent joint though.

What are the track size comparisons? It’s been a long time, but I’m remembering Baxter being long and wide?

[B_K]

Mountain had more banking probably a 1/3 mile from memory. Baxter was definitely longer and flatter.

[foxfire2dirtracing]

Baxter was completely demolished / leveled a few years ago. I think the property is still for sale- ??

[3 wide]

They sold Baxter at auction a year or 2 ago it was a big track that hurt it a little bit the size of golden mountain is a lot better it could be a nice place.

[dee81fan]

Went to Golden Mountain a few times really cool track. Really hope they get some good size show’s this year.

[kd1]

I only went to Golden Mtn once but I liked it and thought it had potential .. track was about the right size with good amount of banking … concrete bleachers and lots of room for parking .. I actually liked the layout of the track better than Baxter … just my 2 cents!

[TerryM]

They sold Baxter at auction a year or 2 ago it was a big track that hurt it a little bit the size of golden mountain is a lot better it could be a nice place.

Those big tracks never make it, because most of the drivers hate them. Too hard on equipment, strung out racing, low car counts, etc. It’s just not a recipe for success. WVMS held on longer than most, but it was never able to stay open consistently. Scenic was another one destined to fail. I was there for the HAT race they held around ‘02 or ‘03. I remember interviewing drivers afterwards and every one of them said they weren’t a fan of the track. But man, that facility was beautiful.

[MidTnDirtFan]

Baxter was a fairly narrow track. And it wasn't prepped that well. I walked around the track a few times and they would dump a few loads of water on it and call that good. No grader or even a sheep's foot to attempt to fix some holes in the surface. And it was known for favoritism to certain drivers.