KODAK, Tenn. — When Barrett Terry was just 10 years old, his father brought him to the Dumplin Valley Raceway. It's where he found his passion for go-karting.
"We actually started racing up here right after the racetrack opened," Terry said. "This is our home track."
He also met a young girl, Shannon, who was working in the concession stand that year. Her father helped build the racetrack and she was the first Miss Dumplin Valley Raceway.
"It's where I met my wife," Terry recalled, looking at Shannon with a smile. "There's a lot of history here."
Barrett Terry has won go-karting races around the country, but said Dumplin Valley is home. He teared up at the thought of the raceway closing its doors for good.
"I met a lot of good friends, good people," he said. "People that I wouldn't have met if it wasn't for this."
The people are what makes this raceway stand out, said announcer Eric Rendleman.
"A lot of great people have come through here and it's been a big deal," Rendleman said. "A lot of current NASCAR drivers have turned laps around this track."
East Tennessee's own Trevor Bayne was one of them.
"It's been the starting ground, the basis of motor sports for a lot of professionals out there today," Rendleman said. "It's been a great race track. Everybody's really sad that it's closing down."
While the Terry's have been coming since the beginning, other families had discovered the track. Jack Orr and his son started coming earlier this year.
"The best memories I got here is me and my son," he said. "The best time here is when he won the track championship, was the junior champ."
Orr, like many others, was sad to learn the Burris Fall Nationals would be the final race.
"It's a piece of history," he said. "The people here are awesome and I'm sad to see it go."
Dumplin Valley Raceway owner Steve Horner took the track over in 2008. He said they were leasing the land and the landowner had decided to sell the property to a storage facility.
"My wife and I poured our heart into it," he said. "We really enjoyed all the people that we had and the fellowship, watching the kids grow up."
As for the legacy of Dumplin Valley Raceway, Horner said there are just four words he hopes it's remembered as: the "best race track ever."