Orangeburg Drag Strip/South Carolina Motorplex (Neeses)
ActiveActive Still racing today.
The former Orangeburg Dragstrip now operates as South Carolina Motorplex near Neeses.
- The timing tower came from a demolished prison
- Opened with no timing equipment and no guardrail
- Raced
- 1961-present
- State
- South Carolina
- Track
- 1/4 mile
- Surface
- Asphalt, replaced with concrete in the 1990s
- Address
- 194 Dragstrip Road
Neeses, SC 29107 - People
- T. J. Ashe, original owner
- Ezel Hutto, original owner
- Nick Davis, original owner
- Zane DeWitt, owner (1972-82, 2001-06)
- Tommy DeWitt, owner (1972-82)
- Jimmy DeWitt, owner (1972-82, 2001-06)
- Don Garrick, owner (1982-)
- Charles Dowey, owner (1990s)
- Johnny Dowey, owner (1990s)
- Buddy Boozer, owner (2006-17)
- Jeff Biegun, owner (2017-)
- Sanction
- IHRA
- Elevation
- 246 ft (75 m)
- Coordinates
- 33.52522, -80.97976
Big races
Germanaire Drag Day & Show
Weekend of drag racing, show and shine, swap meet and vendors aimed at Volkswagens and other cars.
IHRA Sportsman Spectacular
IHRA sportsman points event for bracket classes; the track has a long IHRA Division 9 history and was the division's 2019 track of the year.
Takeover days, ET brackets and grudge
Promoter takeover days combine run-what-you-brung, shootouts, Jr. Dragster, gamblers races and grudge runs alongside an ET bracket series.
Germanaire Drag Day
A drag-racing weekend with a show and swap meet, welcoming Volkswagens and other cars.
Southeast Street-N-Yeet
A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.
Southeast Street-N-Yeet Fall
A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.
Southeast Street-N-Yeet Spring
A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.
History
T. J. Ashe, Ezel Hutto and Nick Davis were the original owners. It was a quarter-mile strip with a quarter-mile shutdown and had no timing equipment and no guardrail. The track and return road were repaved before the 1968 season. Every class winner got a trophy and every eliminator winner got money. The DeWitt brothers, Zane, Tommy and Jimmy, bought it in 1972, added timing equipment and started grudge racing. On October 24, 1976, Rick Jeffcoat lost control of his ‘65 Mustang and crashed through the fence along the strip, killing 20-year-old spectator Glenn Mickens. Don Garrick bought the strip in 1982 and ran grudge racing on Thursday nights and Sundays. Charles and Johnny Dowey owned it in the 1990s and replaced the asphalt with concrete. Jimmy and Zane DeWitt bought it back in 2001 and sold it to Buddy Boozer in 2006. Boozer refurbished the whole track, surface included, but kept the tower, which had come from a demolished prison. He sold it in November 2017 to Jeff Biegun, owner of RJS Racing Equipment, Performance 2 Way Racing Communications and the American Drag Racing League. Biegun spent heavily on upgrades before reopening in late February 2018, swapping the old guardrails for concrete walls, installing a new timing system, refurbishing the tower, adding acres of parking and rebuilding the concessions and bathrooms.
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