There are racetracks—and then there are places that raise racers. Holiday Raceway in Woodstock, Alabama, affectionately known across the Southeast as “The Beach,” is one of those rare places where history isn’t just remembered; it’s still being made every weekend.
Opened in 1968 and still owned by the same two families—the Bateh and Beams families—Holiday Raceway represents something almost unheard of in modern motorsports: a dragstrip that has never changed hands. For 57 years, the track has remained in the care of the same people who built it, worked it, raised their kids at it, and poured their entire lives into it.
Keeping any business alive that long is impressive. Keeping a racetrack alive—through economic downturns, changing times, weather, regulations, and the constant demands of running a motorsports facility—is a miracle. And keeping it going between two families, side-by-side, for nearly six decades? That’s almost unheard of.
We all know how hard it can be sometimes to get along with family, especially when business is involved—but this place has always been a family affair.
A Track That Feels Like Home
Walk into The Beach and you don’t just see a racetrack—you feel the past and present meeting each other. The place is clean, updated, and professionally operated, but the moment you hear the announcer’s voice echoing across the pits, bouncing off the trees and trailers, you’re transported back to what grassroots racing is supposed to be.
It’s that nostalgic hum that racers talk about long after they’ve left. The warm smell of tire smoke drifting across the hillside. The sight of kids on bicycles weaving between pit spaces. The friendly wave from someone who’s been racing here for 30 years and remembers when you were a Jr. Dragster kid.
Holiday Raceway hits you in the chest with the roots of drag racing. But don’t mistake “roots” for outdated. The timing system is sharp. The surface is well-maintained. The facility is modernized. The Beach is proof you can polish a gem without changing what makes it shine.
Where the Southeast Learned to Race
Some of the best bracket racers in the Southeast cut their teeth right here. Before they were champions. Before they were known names. Before they had rigs and sponsors and big-money race wins—they were kids at The Beach, learning to stage, learning to focus, learning to become racers.
From the Junior ranks all the way into the Pro classes, The Beach has been a proving ground. A place where skill mattered, where consistency was king, and where hundreds of racers earned their stripes.
That’s what happens when a track has 57 years of DNA in it. You don’t just attract racers—you raise them.
The Tradition of Traditions: King of the Beach
If Holiday Raceway is the heartbeat of Alabama drag racing, then the King of the Beach is its crown jewel.
For more than 45 years, racers have come from all across the Southeast—Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and beyond—to battle for one of the most unique honors in grassroots drag racing: the right to be crowned King.
And with that crown comes the iconic five-foot trophy that racers talk about all year long. Towering, heavy, unmistakable. The kind of trophy you don’t accidentally walk past in someone’s shop. It’s a statement piece. A declaration. A bragging-rights monument.
“People drive from everywhere for a shot at that trophy,” Beams says. “It’s been consistent for more than 45 years. Winning it means something. It always has.”
King of the Beach isn’t just another bracket race. It’s a reunion. A benchmark. A chance for new racers to make their mark on the same surface their parents—and sometimes even grandparents—raced on.
The winners become part of a legacy that stretches back decades. Their names are etched into a storyline that only a track like Holiday Raceway can produce.
A True Definition of Family
Racetracks can be bought. They can be sold. They can be repaved, renamed, or forgotten. That’s the nature of a changing sport.
But Holiday Raceway stands as proof that when something is built on family, and supported by a community, it doesn’t just survive—it thrives.
The Bateh and Beams families didn’t just build a racetrack. They built a home for racers. A place where the sport’s roots remain strong, where the atmosphere feels honest, and where winning still means something.
A place where you can still hear the announcer echo across the pits and remember why you fell in love with drag racing in the first place.
And every year, when racers line up for King of the Beach, they’re not just chasing a trophy—they’re becoming part of one of the longest-running traditions in drag racing.
The Current King’s
We would like to congratulate the current King’s of the Beach
Pro Winner: Dalton Steel
Footbrake: Allen Reno
Jr. Dragster: Jase Beams
