HENRY COUNTY, Va. (rbs news now) — After initially denying a permit to reopen the former Oak Level Raceway, the Henry County Board of Zoning Appeals voted at a special called meeting Wednesday morning to allow the racetrack to operate.

The board had unanimously rejected the special-use permit request on August 27, after neighbors cited concerns about noise, safety, traffic, dust and property values during the public hearing.

The proposal, submitted by property owner Carl “Bo” Miller, sought permission to operate the track for motorsports and entertainment events at the end of Raceway Drive in the Reed Creek District.

Board members reconvened September 10 after receiving new information about the site’s licensing history and voted to approve the permit.

Miller said after the meeting that he and his team are already preparing for events.

“We’re going to be open for business, hopefully March of 2026,” Miller told local media out the Henry County Administration Building following the vote. “We’re going to draw some money in for the Henry County Sheriff’s Department’s Benevolent Officer Fund. We’ve also got an event we’re going to try to host in November if our facility is ready for a local therapeutic riding group that provides therapeutic riding to adults, children and adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

Miller credited former owner French Grimes for keeping the business licenses and permits active under the track’s previous name, Fort Mountain Raceway, which allowed the operation to be “grandfathered” in for certain uses.

“I’m going to tell you, in a roundabout way, French Grimes saved Oak Level,” Miller said. “It got discovered that French had maintained his permits from the time that he stopped actually racing until current. And so we actually never fell out at any time of our use. That was a grandfathered situation where we could continue on. Had that not happened, I don’t think we’re standing here today.”

Miller said he was relieved by the board’s new vote and praised his supporters.

He pledged to keep neighborhood concerns at the forefront as the track works toward future events.

“I still wanted to make sure that our 11 p.m. curfew, the picking up the trash — all of that — got officially recorded,” Miller said. “We’re not going to keep you up at 2 and 3 a.m. We’re not going to let people throw beer cans and hot dog wrappers all over your property. We’re going to take responsibility, hopefully for everybody else’s actions.”

Miller said plans call for late-model shows, stock fours, pro fours and a Crown Vic class — “the new thing in racing right now” — once the venue is complete.

He said the facility is about 90% finished but still needs work on concession stands, the scoring tower and electrical systems, and that Henry County deputies will be hired to provide security during events.

Miller also noted that Grimes’ “Race Saver” series made racing affordable for more drivers.

“It’s funny,” he said. “The man who had his track to make racing cheap enough for everybody — it saved racing at the end of the day.”

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