Dark Days

The car that Gober Sosebee likely won the Swayne Pritchett Memorial in has been restored and is on display at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, Georgia. Photo by Brandon Reed

The next event held at the Jackson County Speedway was in memory of Swayne Pritchett.  Legendary racer Gober Sosebee won the race, with all the proceeds going to Pritchett’s family.

It wasn’t long after that, however, that tragedy again struck the half-mile track.

During an event later in the year, Atlanta driver Jack Smith lost control of his racer while trying to avoid an accident in the third corner, when his own car went out of control.

It vaulted up the embankment where the grandstands were, and into the crowd.  There were no fences or guardrails protecting the crowd, and there was nothing to prevent a car from going into the spectator area other than the bank the stands stood on.

Jack Smith, seen here racing at Macon sometime in the late '40s, was involved in a tragic accident at Jackson County Speedway shortly after Swayne Pritchett's death.

Smith’s car struck a spectator, killing him.

“Jack was trying to miss Walt Gibbs from Gainesville, who had turned over in the third turn,” Whitmire, who was a spectator that day, said. “Jack said he was trying to miss him, and went out into the crowd (out of the fourth turn).

“He went 8 or 10 feet out into the spectators.  The guy that was killed was the only one I saw that was hurt. I don’t know if he was dead on the scene, or died later.”

Whitmire remembered how upset Smith was after the accident.

“He just looked, and he fell down on his knees just squalling. He was crying like a baby.” Whitmire remembered that the victim in the accident was said to be an area prison guard.