What’s new in the North Georgia city that birthed NASCAR
DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA—JANUARY 2025—When the Depression hit in the 1930s, residents of the rural North Georgia town of Dawsonville suffered greatly. Prohibition was still in effect and moonshine production provided residents with a needed source of income, said native David Sosebee, whose family has lived in the area for generations. Folks didn’t trust the government that allowed their banks to fail, Sosebee added, so they didn’t mind that the selling of moonshine was against the law.
But that didn’t keep the feds from coming. Dawsonville residents supercharged their cars for speed to outrun those aimed at stopping their trade and that need for speed prevailed. Over time, stock car racing became a sport in the North Georgia Mountains, eventually leading to the creation of NASCAR and securing Dawsonville as the Birthplace of Stockcar Racing. Some of the biggest names in racing hail from Dawsonville, including Bill and Chase Elliott, Raymond Parks, Red Vogt, Roy Hall, Lloyd Seay and Gober Sosebee, father to David Sosebee who’s also a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car driver.
Visitors to Dawsonville will find this racing tradition, then and now, evident throughout town. And to make a visit to Dawsonville even more enticing, there’s new things to see and experience.
Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Museum
The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Museum (415 Highway 53 East, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534; 706-216-7223) offers an overview of this unique history, including the early days of moonshine running, the history of motorsports in the region and the men who carried on the racing tradition. The museum contains both original and replica racers from the 1940s to today, the Elliott Family Room, showcasing the triumphs of award-winning NASCAR drivers Bill “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” Elliott and his son, Chase Elliott, and the years of inductees into the Racing Hall of Fame.
New to the museum, after a major renovation, are six state-of-the-art iRacing Simulators where visitors can experience the thrill of racing on 60 tracks with a choice of cars—even compete against each other while others watch on a large screen. One simulator is handicapped accessible, making the fun available to all. Racing leagues are in the works, to be offered every Thursday starting in January 2025.
Overhead audio projectors now complement the Hall of Fame exhibits, offering information on the racing experts. A new exhibit in the style of a 1950s garage honors Red Vogt of Atlanta, known as NASCAR’s first master mechanic and premier engine builder to bootleggers.
What’s New at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Complex
In addition to its massive renovation, the museum complex welcomes Grandaddy Mimm’s Distilling Co. (415 Highway 53 East, Suite 130, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534; 706-781-1829) and the Station House Restaurant (415 Highway 53 East, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534; 706-525-5145), both family- owned and -operated businesses.
Country artist and owner Tommy Townsend, along with his daughter Megan Kimsey, serve a variety of “shine” at Mimm’s, recipes carried down from Townsend’s grandfather known affectionately as Mimm. Choose from barrel-aged whiskey and Owltown Vodka to pure and flavored moonshine. Plans are in the works to install a stage and add concerts to Mimm’s monthly music bingo. Mimm’s is both family- (check out the many board games!) and pet-friendly.
Dawsonville is the second venue for the Station House, but the menu remains the same—delicious Southern favorites such as crispy fried chicken, meatloaf and cornbread dressing and their famous pancakes and biscuits for breakfast, all made from scratch daily. Marla Nix grew up in the restaurant business; her family has owned and operated restaurants for more than 40 years! For those who want to take home some of Marla’s tasty creations, simply drive up to the old filling station adjacent to the museum and restaurant to gather your take-out.
Soon, a greenspace will be added to the exterior of the museum complex allowing folks to enjoy both Mimm’s drinks and The Station House fare in the great outdoors.
Atlanta Motorsports Park
Rather hit the tracks yourself? Dawsonville puts the public behind the wheel on the two-mile, F1-designed circuit created by the renowned Hermann Tilke and the .85-mile pro kart tracks with more than 43 feet of elevation change at the Atlanta Motorsports Park (20 Duck Thurmond Road, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534; 678-329-8051). It’s a one-of-a-kind playground for those wishing to race high performance cars, motorcycles and karts.
There’s race viewing, racing schools and car handling experiences on what Road and Track Magazine called one of the “Top 10 racetracks in North America.” In addition, for its “excellence and innovation in the high-performance driving and racing industry,” AMP took the prestigious 2023 Outstanding Facility Award by SPEED SPORT.
AMP’s pro kart track, the fastest kart track in the region, caters to ages 5-70+ in 13 different classes on a race day and its driving academy offers several driving courses, including the non-profit DriveStrong for teens with real-world conditions to prepare them for a lifetime of safe driving. To entice folks even more, Atlanta Motorsports Park has now added lights to the kart racing track to allow night racing and night leagues to enjoy racing throughout the year.
Dawsonville Pool Room
Racing enthusiasts will not want to miss a visit to the Dawsonville Pool Room (9 Bill Elliott Street, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534; 706-265-2792), which serves as a racing museum as well as a great spot for lunch and dinner. Gordon Pirkle, known to locals as “Mr. Dawsonville” and founder of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, opened his restaurant in 1966. Over the years, he’s collected racing memorabilia, including decades-old newspaper clippings and issues of “MotorWeek Illustrated,” and covered the walls of his restaurants with its history.
One of Pirkle’s employees was known to create unique dishes and hand them to customers without their approval, although they hardly complained. One was a unique burger consisting of a crisp meat patty topped with house-made slaw, onions, pickles, mustard and ketchup. Labeled the “Bully Burger,” it’s now a North Georgia favorite and attracts foodies from all over.
If you’re fortunate to be in Dawsonville when a hometown boy wins a race, you’ll hear what sounds like a tornado siren. Pirkle started this tradition of sounding the “sireeeen” when locals win races, such as in 2020, when Chase Elliott became the youngest driver to win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship (and the third father-son duo to win the trophy). The siren blared for hours. It’s all part of the love Dawsonville shares for the Elliott family, and the many other famous drivers hailing from the region.
“If you hear a siren here, it’s either an air raid or Chase Elliott won the race,” said David Sosebee.
Annual festivals
During the year, the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame offers several special events, such as car shows and the Daytona 500 Watching Party. The 58th Annual Mountain Moonshine Festival, which celebrates both the town’s moonshine history and its being the Official Birthplace of Stockcar Racing, will be October 24-26, 2025, at Main Street Park. The festival is one of the longest running festivals in the country and includes 600 cars on display and 300-plus vendors each year with proceeds helping children in need.
Where to stay
Just a short drive from downtown Dawsonville lies Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge (418 Amicalola Falls Lodge Rd, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534; 800-573-9656) with its miles of hiking trails, a cozy lodge situated on top of a mountain with breathtaking views, attractions such as zip lining and a dramatic 729-foot waterfall, the third-highest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River. The park’s also eight miles from the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail and the new welcome center tells the trail’s history through exhibits and interactive displays.
For those wanting an adventure, hike from the park five miles into the backcountry to the Len Foote Hike Inn (280 Amicalola Falls State Park Road, Dawsonville, GA 30534). Friendly staff greet you at trail’s end and provide a room, meals served family-style and one of the best sunrise views in Georgia.