In Memoriam: Dallas Jones, Owner Of Beech Bend Raceway

We are saddened to report that Dallas Jones, the longtime owner and manager of Beech Bend Raceway Park, has passed on. He was 82 years old.

On many a weekend throughout the year, we find ourselves arriving into the track early in the morning, usually before the crowds. More often than not, the scene is peaceful…dew on the grass, sun filtering through the trees, the track workers starting to put up the Christmas Tree and Broc, Dallas’s grandson, in the tractor laying down the rubber. We’ve grown used to Dallas walking around, keeping an eye on everything as the PA system is fired up, checking in to make sure that everything was going well. You could find him in the tower, or in his truck, or roaming around on a golf cart. He may not have been working the grunt jobs, but you had better believe that Dallas was fully aware of the pulse of Beech Bend whenever he was around.

The man knew the track well…he had raced at Beech Bend in the 1960s and 1970s before together, with his wife Alfreda, purchased Beech Bend in 1984. He’d had experience running dragstrips in Hardinsburg and Owensboro, Kentucky prior to taking the keys to Beech Bend, and over the years and with the help of his son Clay, the local track would grow into a race track that would receive national recognition. In 1987 Dallas and Alfreda purchased the remaining property of Beech Bend Park and got to work on a well-needed overhaul with daughter Charlotte that would see a renovated campground, water park features, and upgraded park rides through the mid-2000s.

In addition to the park, Dallas has been a part of DC Transport, DC Trucking, Clacey’s Auto and Hardware and Clacey’s Quick Fuel, and he’d been active in the operations of them.

Over the years, all of us at BangShift have gotten to know the Jones family. Dallas was well-known for hanging around in the announcing booth as Brian worked the mic and I planned out how I was going to work that day. Whenever I would request some off-hours time at the track for a photography session, sooner or later I would expect to see him drive up and chat for a minute or two. We will still look forward to driving down the lane to the track early in the morning, as the dew sits fat on the grasses in the field. But we are going to miss chatting and having a laugh with the man who gave us a place that has been a major part of BangShift over the years. We send our condolences to the Jones family and while we grieve with them, we look forward to continuing his legacy on for years to come.

Rest easy, Dallas.

(lead image: Dragzine)

The post In Memoriam: Dallas Jones, Owner Of Beech Bend Raceway appeared first on BangShift.com.


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