Gar Dickson and Steve Melling

When Richard Harvey looks out at the packed parking lot on this sultry early summer Friday night, any doubts about the successful businessman’s latest — and some would say riskiest — venture quickly become a distant memory.

When Richard and his brother Robert decided to purchase a rundown race track and commit several hundred thousand dollars into renovating it, the decision likely was questioned on more than one occasion. After all, in a struggling economy where tracks in better condition were shutting down across the country, and where racers were finding it difficult to justify spending so much money on a hobby, this was a huge gamble.

But this wasn’t just any old track. This was Boyd’s Speedway, where men named Richard Petty and Bobby Allison once thrilled the packed grandstands. It was also where Richard and Robert Harvey spent many childhood nights with their father, Bobby.

“Our father was really into racing, so he took us there a lot,” Richard Harvey said of the track located just off Ringgold Road in Catoosa County. “There are a lot of good memories of going there.”

So when Richard, who also raced at the track from 1993 to 2006 before surgery on his neck forced him out of the car, heard the old track was for sale, he quickly called Robert.

“Racing is something we both enjoy, and we both have such good memories of Boyd’s, so we decided to look into it,” Richard said. “We felt like it was a good price and the track has always had such a good location. We felt we could make it work.”

To make the track once again relevant — especially in an area that includes very successful dirt tracks in Cleveland and Chatsworth — the Harveys knew a total makeover was a necessity.

“The state of the track was really rundown,” Richard said. “There hadn’t been a lot done to it in years. My dad, on the first day we started working on it, looked at me and said, ‘Oh, my goodness, what are ya’ll doing here?’

“But I envisioned we could be successful. You don’t go into something with the intent of failing. We had a good plan.”

The renovation of the 56-year-old facility included building a concrete wall around the track, complete with a NASCAR-like catch-fence. Some banking was taken out of the track, which was also widened and made more uniform.

Drainage problems were of major concern underneath the track surface and in the parking lot. Sewage would often back up into the parking lot after a heavy rain. New clay was brought in, and a new scale house was built to make sure all the cars were at official weight.

And those were just the improvements to attract competitors.

“I had raced some here before, and I can tell you there is no comparison in that race track and the new one,” said Gar Dickson, a successful dirt-track racer who is the Boyd’s race promoter. “The track itself is wider and more uniform. Guys can race four and five wide now. All the drivers I talked to after that first night were tickled to death at what we’ve done. It’s a first-class facility now.”

What had turned some drivers and fans away from the track, in addition to its rundown state, was its reputation for trouble. Rules were often either ignored or bent, which usually resulted in heated exchanges among drivers. Fans would sometimes get involved. It was, according to Richard Harvey, not the family-friendly place of his childhood.

“That was the key,” he said. “We wanted to make it more family oriented. You would go out there and there was usually trouble. We had to establish rules and abide by them. People just need to know you’re going to be fair, but they also need to know you’re not going to put up with trouble.”

The Harveys knew fans pay the bills, so to get the crowds back they decided to dig deeper into their checkbook. In addition to making parking more friendly and ridding the place of its rowdy reputation, they built a control tower with a concession stand and air-conditioned bathrooms. They added a new pit area and grandstand seating, a new public-address system and a new scoreboard.

All of this was completed in 100 days.

“Having done that in the time frame they had is incredible,” said Steve Milling, the track’s announcer. “I don’t think a lot of people believed they could get it done. But they did and it’s amazing.”

Opening night June 6 gave the Harveys a true test. Heavy rain the day before threatened to cancel the racing. In previous years the area would have been under water; it lies in a designated flood plain. However, the drainage upgrade did its job and the show, with six classes of competition, went on in front of a big crowd.

Drivers, who were leery of the track’s reduced banking, came away pleased.

“They took a lot of the banking out of the corners, which slowed the cars down, but it made the racing better,” said Bill Bailey, who drives in the Front Runner division. “We could easily go three, four, five wide. The only bad thing is, if you make a mistake, you’re going to hit the wall and tear something up. There are pros and cons to all of it, but once everyone gets used to it, it’s going to make for better racing.”

Bailey, who also races at Cleveland Speedway, was a regular at the old Boyd’s Speedway.

“As far as the location and where it sits, Boyd’s may seem to be the same old Boyd’s, but it is like night and day,” he said. “They’re going about it the right way, and my hat’s off to them. The racing community wants to see them do well. It’s a great track, and when they get it all done, it’s going to be one of the best tracks around.”

Making the business venture more feasible for the Harveys is the ability to use the other businesses they own, including S&H Steel and Tennessee Roofing, to help with the renovation.

“Being able to do it ourselves is a tremendous advantage,” Richard Harvey said. “We can use our own resources and our own people. My guess is we’ve saved $300,000 to $400,000. We couldn’t have done it otherwise. We’ve spent a bunch of money, but the desire to make it work was more than the worry about the economy. Sure, we looked at it, but we thought the risk was worth it.”

Future plans include more grandstands, planting grass in the infield and attracting some bigger races. The Advance Auto Parts Thunder Series helped pack the track on that recent Friday, and there is talk of bringing the high-horsepower sprint cars to the track — talk that would have been without substance a few weeks ago.

“We envision being able to hold bigger races, and with area businesses seeing what we’re doing, they will want to get on board,” Richard Harvey said. “We have a lot of plans for the place, and we hope the people come out and notice. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been worth it.”

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