Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 4, 1993 TAG: 9308040242
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I think it's the sheriff's farewell tour," Taylor said of Overton. "All entertainers do a farewell tour."
Overton says he is just trying to enforce the law - but if he wanted to pick on the Franklin County Speedway owner he'd have good reason.
"Nobody's out to get Whitey," Overton said. "You got to bring this thing into line. He does what he wants to. He is the law up there."
The latest blowup in what is perhaps the longest-running power struggle in Franklin County happened Saturday night. Forty-five sheriff's deputies, Alcoholic Beverage Control agents and state police converged on Taylor's speedway - 48 laps into a 50-lap late-model stock car race - and arrested 56 people on drinking and drug charges.
Authorities are considering charging Taylor with operating a common nuisance and have suggested they might attempt to close the track for a few weeks until he addresses some recurring problems.
The feud between Taylor and Overton has flared up too many times to chronicle. Perhaps the most famous clash was when Taylor recruited country singer Willie Nelson to perform in the county, and crowed that 100,000 people might attend. Overton, miffed that Taylor had sold the idea to the county supervisors by vowing a much lower turnout, pledged to arrest Nelson if he drank on stage.
Nelson never came to Franklin County.
The grounds for Saturday night's raid had been laid throughout the race season. Overton and ABC officials were getting complaints of excessive drinking at the speedway. Overton said if a law-abiding race-goer complained to Taylor about being harassed by a drunk, Taylor told the complainer - not the drunk - to leave.
But Overton's hackles were really raised earlier this season when he sent a deputy to respond to a fight at the track. The deputy broke up the fight, came back to his cruiser, and found all four of his tires had been slashed.
"If that's the game they want to play, then we got to go in full force," Overton said.
Taylor doesn't have an ABC license to sell beer at the speedway; but as is the case at other small Virginia tracks where alcohol is prohibited, drinking is part of the racing scene.
To back up his claim of selective enforcement, Taylor points to other tracks that don't have ABC licenses where drinking is prevalent. The Martinsville Speedway attracts up to 55,000 fans to its two Winston Cup races each season. It is one of the few NASCAR tracks that doesn't sell beer, but its management admits that many fans bring their own.
Drinking is such a part of racing that some fans at Martinsville and other speedways buy an extra seat for their cooler.
"Naturally, with any major sporting event you're going to have drinking," Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell said. "I'm not saying that doesn't go on here - it does - but we've never had a problem."
ABC Special Agent Wallace Vann said his department tries to have a presence at most regional sporting events, but there are not enough ABC agents to crack down everywhere. Vann said if Henry County authorities asked for help in raiding the Martinsville Speedway, the ABC would respond the same as it did Saturday night in Callaway.
Vann lives in Martinsville, but said he doesn't go to the races there. "I think my presence there would be taken as saying it's all right to do that," he said. "Trying to arrest 15,000 people would be ridiculous."
Overton said it doesn't matter what goes on at the Martinsville, New River or Natural Bridge speedways - those tracks are not his jurisdiction. Taylor needs to get some control over the goings-on at his Saturday night races in Callaway, which regularly draw 5,000 people.
"I've got a job to do and that's what I'm going to do," he said. "He came in this year at the beginning of the year and told me he was going to run a clean speedway. Then he does this. He knew this stuff was going on."
Taylor called the ABC office in May and got an application for an ABC license. He never sent in the paperwork, but he speculated the raid may have been an attempt to build a case against him if he tried to get the license.
Taylor said he doesn't know why he has been singled out, except that perhaps Overton can get more publicity from Taylor than he can "the average Joe Brown."
"It has a reverse effect," he said. "The publicity from it sells tickets. I'm not promoting that people drink, but it's like fights at a hockey game - it sells tickets."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB