Residents were given a map of how to get to the Moccasin Bend Speedway. Click to enlarge.
Chattanooga is not one of the stops on the NASCAR circuit, but at one time, it showed promise that it could become one. This is the first of a three-part series on local race tracks where the last checkered flag has been waved.
By the 1950’s, Herbert Clay Kirk had established himself in the grocery business. He also owned eighty acres on the north end of Moccasin Bend. Kirk decided to build upon his love of auto racing by constructing a track on his property.
The eighty acres were zoned for agricultural purposes, but the zoning allowed for a race track if it could be shown that it would not be a public nuisance. The Chattanooga Times reported on October 8, 1953 that H.C. Kirk made his case for the track at a zoning hearing.
Moccasin Bend had families living on the peninsula who expressed concern about noise and dust from the speedway. To calm their fears, Mr. Kirk said that he would treat the track with calcium chloride to contain the dust. He said that the noise would be “no more obnoxious than McCallie Avenue at rush hour.” The zoning hearing ended with Kirk being allowed to construct the Moccasin Bend Raceway.
The residents were not the only obstacle to the construction of the quarter mile track. The raceway also had to steer clear of TVA power lines and poles. A local racing fan and reader recalled that the course was billed as the highest banked dirt track in the South. To earn that distinction required lots of excavation. The reader also noted that construction likely disturbed many Native American artifacts.
In the spring of 1954, the Moccasin Bend Raceway opened to the public. Though very close as a mockingbird flies to downtown Chattanooga, the Bend was still very remote in the mid-1950’s. In advertisements, H.C. Kirk included a map of how to get to the raceway via Cherokee Boulevard, Manufacturers Road, and Moccasin Bend Road. U.S. 27 (I-124) had not been built yet.
Through the ’54, ’55, ‘and ’56 racing seasons, the Moccasin Bend Speedway attracted drivers, both competitors and spectators. Its address in the city directory was Rural Delivery Route 5, Moccasin Bend Road. H.C. Kirk sponsored some of the cars, and included advertisements for his grocery stores on them.
Throughout the 1950’s, there was growing discussion of new uses for all of Moccasin Bend. The idea of a establishing a national park was considered. There was also a very complex plan, published in the March 13, 1958 Chattanooga Times, that suggested building a canal across the neck of Moccasin Bend, cutting through the race track site. The blueprint also called for bridges, dams, and expressways crossing the bend of the river. An idea that did come to fruition was the construction of a mental health facility.
By 1957, the city directory no longer listed a speedway on Moccasin Bend. H.C. Kirk relocated to Florida, where he had success in building much larger grocery stores than he had done in Chattanooga. Today, somewhere out on Moccasin Bend, there could be some artifacts (a bolt, a mirror, some tire tread, etc.) of the short timeframe in which muscle cars roared in the river valley.
If you have memories of the Moccasin Bend Speedway or other local race tracks, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net.
Prior to being developed for diverse purposes, Moccasin Bend was farmed by several families. The large farms crossed the peninsula from west to east. Click to enlarge.