Coastal Plains reopening in August; Zacharias to take over

JACKSONVILLE, NC – Coastal Plains Raceway’s oval track has a new lease on life for the remainder of 2025 and heading into the future with a familiar name taking over.

Steve Zacharias, who currently owns and operates Florence Motor Speedway and was the promoter at Myrtle Beach Speedway until its closure in 2020, has taken operations of the 4/10-mile track in Jacksonville, North Carolina.  In the short term, Zacharias has planned three events for 2025 with more planned for 2026.

“Brian [Vause] and myself and Speedway Plus Productions and Ronnie Humphrey at Coastal Plains, we have gone into a managing partnership,” Zacharias said in a pre-recorded interview on the Chicken Bone Alley podcast.  “We will now be in control of the racing operations anyway when it comes to Coastal Plains Raceway … we’re excited to be a part of it.”

Humphrey currently operates the dragstrip at Coastal Plains Raceway Park and also owns Humphrey Heating & Air in Jacksonville.

“When you lose one racetrack, it makes it hard for us to grow if cars are going away,” Zacharias stated.  “Mr. Humphrey, he worked so hard and his dad built the racetrack.  He’s just been trying to keep the place alive and make sure that his dad’s legacy continues and we want to be a part of that.  He’s excited about what we’re offering.”

For his part, Humphrey is excited about what lies ahead for the track with Zacharias at the helm.

“Coastal Plains was opened in 1999 and ran until May 2025,” Humprey told Short Track Scene.  “Coastal Plains Raceway is reopening with limited events in 2025 with a full schedule for 2026.  On behalf of the team members and the Humphrey family, we want to thank everyone for their support and we are excited for what lies ahead.  I think it’s a good deal and I think it’s a positive.”

The track’s reopening will take place on Saturday, August 9 with divisions set to be determined.  The SMART Modified Tour will compete on Friday, August 29 as part of a weekend doubleheader with Carteret County Speedway (Saturday, August 30).  The third and final race for 2025 will be run on Saturday, October 18, again with divisions to be announced at a later date.

Originally opened in 1999, Coastal Plains Raceway has operated under three different names – most recently New River All American Speedway from 2023 through May 2025.  Under Zacharias and Vause, the track will return to its more familiar Coastal Plains namesake, and the original logo will also return.

“Anyone who’s been a diehard racer, they only knew it as Coastal Plains,” Vause said.  “So the first thing I said, it only feels right, ‘can we go back to Coastal Plains?  Can we ask Mr. Ronnie is there a reason it’s not?’ Which there wasn’t, luckily.  I think Coastal Plains Raceway is just going to be at home to everybody.  We figured that name, oh yeah, we remember that track.  Maybe we should go visit that again, because sometimes your new fans, maybe got lost in translation.  They see the new name by the track, is that the same place?”

New River All American Speedway signage along Richlands Hwy has already been taken down and replaced.  Vause noted that the facility has been maintained and said it was “immaculate.”

Zacharias’ goal is not to just keep the track open, but to make it successful as well.

“We have to pay the purse when it comes to the event, so the event has to be successful, whether it’s the amount of cars in the infield or the grandstands,” Zacharias noted.  “It can’t be just ‘let’s knock out two races in one time just because.’  There has to be a reason.  Racetracks don’t survive on just doing something kind of willy nilly as the old people used to say.”

Zacharias told Short Track Scene he is making plans for races in 2026 with hopes to have the zMAX CARS Tour return.  The CARS Tour has been racing at Coastal Plains once a year since 2022, and was the headline act in the biggest race in speedway history in 2024 when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. competed at the track for the first time.

He also intends to work with nearby Carteret County Speedway, which sits just 25 miles away.  Carteret’s races are broadcast on the Ultra Broadcasting platform and is in talks about joining the Ultra Racing Association (URA) in 2026.

Coastal Plains Raceway will operate under the URA banner and sanctioning, with plans for the races to be streamed on Ultra Broadcasting.