Auburn-Opelika Oval

The Auburn-Opelika Oval was a one-half mile dirt oval located in Opelika, Alabama. The track opened on October 31, 1954 and closed circa 1955. The Auburn-Opelika Oval was also known as Midway Speedway. NASCAR standout driver Sam McQuagg started his racing career at the Auburn-Opelika Oval.

About Sam McQuagg:
Sam McQuagg was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 1965 after achieving five top-ten finishes in 16 races. McQuagg was a major player in an incident in one of the wildest NASCAR races ever. McQuagg was leading the 1965 Southern 500, when Cale Yarborough tried to muscle past McQuagg for the lead. Yarborough flew over the guardrail, rolled over six times, and ended up at the end of the parking lot by a light post. Yarborough waved to the crowd as he walked back to the pits. A video clip of the wreck was used on ABC's Wide World of Sports for several years. The race was eventually won by 14 laps by Ned Jarrett.

Dodge noticed his accomplishments in his small Ford team, and Dodge hired him for their factory team. He was the first driver to use a spoiler. He used the spoiler to win the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway; the flag from the Firecracker 400 now hangs on his grandson's wall. McQuagg was also the first driver to bring a motorhome into the Daytona garage area.

In 1967 he was hired to drive Cotton Owens's Dodge. He ran 14 races, and had 3 top-5 finishes. On lap 81, he tangled with another driver at Darlington, went over the guardrail, and flipped numerous times before coming to a rest. The wrecks frustrated McQuagg, and he scaled back his schedule to mainly local tracks. He retired from racing to become a commercial pilot, which was a skill he had learned to travel quickly between races.

His last start came in World 600 in 1974.

The property on which the Auburn-Opelika Oval was built is now the site of the Midway Shopping Center on US Highway 29.

Please contact me If you have any more historical information about the Auburn-Opelika Oval to add to the Short Track History archive.