Bud Lunsford

Bud Lunsford and his skeeter at Banks County.  Photo courtesy Mike Bell

But who was the best driver they had at the track?  After thinking it over for a moment, Irvin had the answer.

“I’d have to say Bud Lunsford, but Bud did have the best equipment that could be bought at that time.”

Lunsford, who won 1,139 feature wins in his career before becoming a track owner at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock and Lanier National Speedway in Braselton, said his experiences at Banks County were “good, really good.”

“That was the good old days for me.” Lunsford said. “It was a good race track.  A lot of times, Tommie or Jackie (Irvin) would give me permission to practice my car if I wasn’t handling real good.  That’s the days I kind of remember.”

Lunsford said it was the quality of the track that brought drivers out from all around to race there.  “First it was a nice place.  I think it was centrically located, and a lot of the guys would come in from Atlanta and Tennessee.  It was a good track to run.  It was always smooth, and always kept up real well, and that’s kind of hard with all of your dirt tracks.”