Donaldson Air Force Base (Greenville)

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Also known as Greenville International Drag Races

A $10,000 purse drew cars from as far as Seattle
18,000 spectators attended over two days

Raced: 1965
State: South Carolina
What's left: A good length of the old track surface is still there, in poor to good condition.
On the site today: Donaldson Center Airport
Raced on: A military airfield
First race: May 15, 1965
Last race: May 16, 1965
Surface: Runway
Location: North-south runway of the former Donaldson Air Force Base, just south of Greenville
People: Greer Jaycees, race operator (1965)
Sanction: NHRA
Elevation: 939 ft (286 m)
Coordinates: 34.75537, -82.37379

The Greenville International Drag Races ran on May 15-16, 1965, on the base’s north-south runway. The Greer Jaycees conducted the NHRA-sanctioned race, and a $10,000 purse drew cars from as far away as Seattle. Bleachers for 4,500 were built next to the starting line, and attendance over the two days totaled 18,000. Pete Robinson beat Jimmy Nix for top eliminator with a 7.88, John Reed of Decatur, Georgia, took top gas eliminator with an 8.51, and Robert Nance won super stock eliminator. A week later the Greenville Civitan Club set out to repeat the event in 1966, but Donaldson Center officials blocked it. The base was deactivated in 1963 and is now Donaldson Center Airport, just south of Greenville.

Background

The Army opened the field in 1942 and used it to train B-25 Mitchell bomber crews during World War II. Later it flew C-124 Globemaster II cargo planes and picked up the nickname "The Airlift Capital of the World." The Air Force shut it down in 1963, two years before the drag races, and it's now the civilian Donaldson Center Airport.

Robert Nance of Ringgold, Georgia, is pictured here in his 1965 Plymouth Super Stocker on a single run at the de-activated Donaldson Air Force Base during the Greenville International Drag Races in 1965. He won $1,400 in beating such racers as Shirl Greer and Hubert Platt. He beat Billy West of Raleigh, North Carolina in the top stock eliminator finals with an 11.09 second time. Photo published in Greenville News, May 17, 1965

Jim O'Connor of Chicago makes some adjustments on his Dodge Hemi prior to the International Drag Race at Donaldson Air Force Base. Photo published in Greenville News, Apr. 11, 1965

Marvin Schwartz ights the tires in Garlits' fuel dragster at the International Drag Race at Donaldson Air Force Base. Photo published in Greenville News, May 16, 1965

'65 Plymouth S/S at Donaldson Air Force Base