Shelor Motor Mile on Wednesday donated the Motor Mile Speedway, its 152-acre Pulaski County Motorsports Park campus, and the Calfee Park baseball stadium to Pulaski County.
As part of the gift, Shelor and its affiliates will continue to lease the speedway and baseball stadium from the county and for the next three years will give the county all of its net revenue from those operations.
The county will also be able to use the motorsports and baseball parks for purposes beyond Shelor’s activities. Officials plan to think “outside the oval” and “outside the bases” to bring in a variety of professional sports and entertainment events, Pulaski County Administrator Jonathan Sweet said Wednesday at events announcing the donations.
“This generous gift signifies the commitment and care the ownership of the Shelor Motor Mile has for this community and the confidence they have in the leadership of Pulaski County to entrust us with this famed community asset for generations to come,” Sweet said at the speedway.
A monetary value of the donations was not disclosed, but Sweet said the two venues combined make up the largest gift in Pulaski County’s history and the largest gift a private entity has ever given to a locality in Virginia.
The speedway opened in 1952, and the Shelor group purchased it in 2004. It has hosted NASCAR, drag racing and monster truck events; last year, Kyle Busch won the SRX Series there in an event televised nationally on ESPN.
Calfee Park opened in 1935 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Shelor group purchased it in 2015. It is the home of the Appalachian League’s Pulaski River Turtles, a summer collegiate team; it formerly hosted the minor league Pulaski Yankees. The park was the site of the Appalachian League’s all-star game in 2021.
“Today’s donation ensures the future remains bright for both Calfee Park and Pulaski County Motorsports Park for decades to come,” said Shelor Motor Mile representative Melissa Epperly.
Shelor is a Christiansburg-based multi-franchise automobile dealer with more than 500 employees regionally.
Epperly said the announcement would not impact the River Turtles playing at Calfee Park.
“Calfee Park will continue to be the home of Pulaski River Turtles for years to come under the guidance of the Motor Mile sports management team,” she said.
Sweet called the baseball stadium a “community icon” in Pulaski County.
“It’s a symbol of pride,” he said. “It’s something that we are known for, not just locally but regionally.”
The Pulaski County Board of Supervisors convened Wednesday to officially accept the donations.
“These gifts will be deeply cherished and will help ensure Pulaski County and the New River Valley continue to enjoy two of Southwestern Virginia’s most valuable outdoor sport and event venues,” said board chair Laura Walters.
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