The 1.5-mile Memphis-Arkansas Speedway was a short-lived high-banked dirt oval that held five NASCAR races during the mid-1950s. It was the longest track on the NASCAR schedule when it opened on 7 October 1954 and remains the longest dirt track to have been used. The original intention had been to pave the speedway, but the owners could not afford the $100,000 cost. It proved to be dangerous with track surface an issue. Tiny Lund was thrown out of his car and was fortunate not to be run over after barrel-rolling out of his NASCAR debut in October 1955. Worse was to come a year later when Clint McHugh was killed while attempting to qualify for his debut, and Cotton Priddy died after being thrown clear when he hit another car and rolled on the 39th lap of the race. The 1957 race was blighted by dust and Memphis-Arkansas Speedway was closed when expansion of highways in the area restricted access. It was sold to local farmer Clayton Eubanks sr who used it for “catfish ponds” according to American circuit historian Allen E. Brown.
