Historic Myrtle Beach Speedway redeveloping into townhome community

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A townhome community will soon start developing where the historic Myrtle Beach Speedway used to stand.

The former racetrack was off Highway 501 on Hospitality Lane in Carolina Forest.

Where some of NASCAR’s biggest stars once trained is now acres of dirt mounds, construction cones and dump trucks.

“It had some of the highest car counts in the country, and you had national champions racing there,” local NASCAR driver Bryant Barnhill said. “I mean, it was the best of the best.”

The Myrtle Beach Speedway closed in 2020. Now, after years of sitting vacant, a townhome community will soon be in its place.

Barnhill said the former racetrack was where he got his start, and it holds a lot of meaning to him and his family.

“By putting a house on top of where the racetrack once stood, people will have no idea that was ever a thing,” he said. “That’s the tough part about it. I know there’s no going back, but I at least want people to know, years down the road, what stood there before.”

Realtor Jackie Taylor said the redevelopment will help the community. She said the area has great potential and should be put to use.

She said with a mix of commercial and residential units, the multi-use purpose has worked really well for the Market Common area.

One Carolina Forest resident, Lawrence Smith, said you can’t have affordable housing without inventory.

“We need the homes. One of the things we’re short nationally is about 4.5 million homes, even with all the development we see,” Smith said. “So, county council has three options. Either leave it vacant, tear it down for a school — which would be incredible unsafe, or put homes.”

According to Horry County Land Records, nationwide company Lennar owns about 14 acres of the former speedway. Speedway Villas Holding LLC owns about 21 acres.

“With people like Lennar, and if the council are willing to say ‘hey, let’s work together’ and not just leave this piece of land that’s not doing anything. Let’s put bodies, let’s lower or depress the price of our units, whether it’s a townhome or single-family home or even condo,” Smith said. “This will help bring in people who will become workers who will contribute to our demographic.”

Smith said what he would like to see is the county work with the companies to provide mixed-use, whether it’s a park or recreational area.

“I can see the density argument. People are saying ‘hey, there’s just so many people and no infrastructure but we don’t want to pay more in taxes,'” he said. “I don’t want my taxes raised, but I do want school infrastructure and I want more roads.”

Smith said Myrtle Beach still has plenty of opportunities for commercial use in vacant buildings. He said the county also needs people to stay local year-round to support small businesses.

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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work he r e .

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