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In the early 1960s, BIR underwent a facelift. The speedway was paved, proper lighting was installed, and Sunday afternoon races were moved to Friday night. Red Farmer, Bobby Allison, and Donnie Allison were winning at BIR in those days, establishing the “Alabama Gang” legend after the trio relocated to Hueytown from Miami. (Track promoters reportedly made Farmer start races from the last position because he had become so dominant at the track.) Hueytown was considered the Mecca of stock car racing through the early 1990s until the deaths of late-addition Alabama Gang members Neil Bonnett and Davey Allison.

The most often repeated BIR legend concerns the night that Nero Steptoe, losing a wheel just laps before the end of a race that he was leading, won on three wheels. Trackside fights, some involving wrenches, were common until the mid-1980s. One crew chief summed up the prevailing attitude of the time when he said “we can swap paint on the track or swap skin in the pits.” Birmingham bar owner T.C. Cannon, who raced at BIR in the 1960s and 1970s said, “We’d race a while, then we’d fight a while.”

If you have a taste for loud, colorful fun, BIR is still a great place to take a date on a Friday night. Weekend racing resumes April 5 with the Steel City 100. Call 781-2471 or go to www.bir-raceway.com. &