Air Base Speedway

**Piston Cup Speedway**, better known as the **Air Base Speedway** is a former Piston Cup track in Greenville, South Carolina. It was the first official track in the circuit and was best known as being the home track of Doc Hudson and also the track where Hud had his career ending crash in 1954.

## Background

Air Base Speedway was opened as 'Piston Cup Speedway' by Charlie Hicks in 1949. After being a hit among the locals, this track became the start of the Piston Cup Racing Series. The speedway itself was very simple in design, just a dirt oval in the woods not far from a military airport, which is where it got the common nickname of 'Air Base Speedway'. A couple years later it became the home track of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. In 1954, upon announcing the final race of the season would be held at Air Base Speedway, Charlie Hicks decided to make some upgrades to the track including track lights for nighttime races, wooden fencing around the entire perimeter of the track, a fancy new billboard by the street, and a chemical sprayed on the track to prevent dust from trailing behind the cars on the track. This was sure to draw in more crowds, and it did for the season's final race. Unfortunately, the chemical created a coating over the track which made racing very difficult as the track was now much more slippery. On the final lap of the final race, Hud made his way towards the finish line, but on turn four he decided to attempt his famous "right to go left" move. Because of this, Hud lost control and suffered a career-ending crash.

In 1955, an investigation was made and found Charlie Hicks was at fault for having the track sprayed with that chemical. Had he not done that, the Hudson Hornet would not as likely crashed. Charlie was fined a large amount of money so he had to sell the track and the company to pay off his debts. The track was condemned and deemed a safety hazard by officials, which paved the way for more safety regulations to be added to the sport, eventually making the sport over-protective. Ever since being abandoned, nobody has been to Air Base Speedway and no races have taken place. All of the grand stands, fencing, and lights have been removed and sold off, but the track still sits rotting away in the woods, completely forgotten. With the Hudson Hornet in hiding, and all of the other remaining racers being junked, the racing world has forgotten this track ever existed and even racing experts have been convinced that the Hudson Hornet's career-ending crash took place at another track.

In 2016, while on a trip to get some training in for the 2017 season, Lightning McQueen and Doc Hudson visit Smokey and Ford in Greenville. While there, they track down the old Air Base Speedway and McQueen and Doc take a lap around the track. Meanwhile, Sterling has been following McQueen and Doc, expecting them to lead him to Air Base, which they do. Once there, Sterling threatens that he is going to buy the land and turn the old speedway into a big news story which will "expose" Doc Hudson and remind him and the world about his crash, which he's tried so hard to forget. Smokey advises McQueen to try to buy the land before Sterling does, but McQueen nor Doc know who owns the land. Turns out, later in Piston Cup history, Charlie Hicks returned to the racing world in 1982, helping a racer named L.W. Murphy get into a race. L.W. was actually a con-man and later became known as Chick Hicks, who just so happens to be Lightning McQueen's old rival. McQueen challenges Chick to one final race around Air Base Speedway to determine who gets the deed to the land. Chick agrees to prove McQueen he can still beat him. As they race, Chick is unaware that the track is slippery and crashes. He feels cheated, which makes him realize what other cars think of him. With this newfound knowledge, Chick becomes an ally to McQueen and decides to not only give McQueen the land to Air Base, but also his 2006 Piston Cup trophy which he knows McQueen rightfully won. Sterling still tries to make a news story about Doc's crash being at Air Base, but the press doesn't believe him without being able to see the remnants of a dirt track in the woods, which he can't show them because Smokey won't let him on their private property. After doing some more exploring, McQueen finds the 1954 Piston Cup trophy plaque with Doc's name on it in the dirt, which would have been given to Doc had he not crashed. McQueen decides to once again give up the Piston Cup he got from Chick to give it to Doc with the Hudson Hornet plaque. Doc has clearly proven he has learned how to master the track, even with it being slippery. This race between McQueen and Chick caused McQueen to miss the Piston Cup race at Sunny Florida Speedway, but he doesn't mind because he's decided to retire from there.

Instead, he wants to start up his own racing circuit with his own rules to bring the fun back to the sport. McQueen and Doc invent the Radiator Cup Racing Series which is open to anyone who wants to enter. To kickoff their plan, they restore and reopen Air Base Speedway to the public as the first speedway in the new circuit. Doc doesn't mind talking about his crash as much anymore because he's finally made up with his old friends and got to prove he still has what it takes. He won't let one crash stop his legacy.

Now, Air Base Speedway is once again a popular racetrack and is better than it ever was before. The track is now run by Chick Hicks. Local races are held every weekend and the Radiator Cup uses it regularly.