emanuelcountylive.com

Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway, the 57-year-old track closed abruptly by owner Paul Purvis in May 2019, plans to reopen next month on an every-other-Saturday schedule, according to the Emanuel County (Ga.) Live news site.

Purvis and his wife Debra shut the track down citing a desire to spend more time with family — five family members died in the past three years — but the track revival will come at "a pace we can enjoy," Paul Purvis said.

Dirt that's been hauled in is ready to be put on the 3/10-mile oval that's seen the addition of an outer concrete wall and a reduction in banking that's intended to cut down speeds, Purvis told the news site.

"It had gotten so fast you could run around here wide open without lifting in about all the classes, so the racing kind of got stale. It wasn't good racing," said Purvis, 2018's Regional Auto Racing Promoter of the Year. "I knew what we needed to do — we needed to slow 'em down. I'm excited. I believe we're going to see a lot better racing and just a better fan experience, to make fans want to come out and see what we're doing."

The Purvis family has owned the track for 21 years, hosting a weekly Crate Late Model division and several Super Late Model tours, including the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series.

The track originally opened as a half-mile oval in 1964, operating all but five seasons, including a hiatus from 1976-’79. Cee-Jay Speedway and East Georgia Motor Speedway are other names the facility has run under, according to the History of America’s Speedways.