Henry Clay Earles (August 11, 1913 – November 16, 1999) was the founder and chairman of the board of Martinsville Speedway, a NASCAR stock car racing track that Earles built in 1947 in Ridgeway, Virginia, that was one of the circuit's first paved oval tracks and stands as one of its shortest.
Born in Axton, Virginia, on August 11, 1913, Earles started making money as a five-year-old, selling unwanted leaves from his father's tobacco farm.
[1][2] Initially educated in a one-room schoolhouse, he dropped out of school so that he could help support his family with the 25 cents he earned each hour at a furniture factory.
[1] His first business venture was a failed pool hall, but a gas station was successful and its profits helped pay for a drive-in restaurant in Martinsville, Virginia.
Unlike the superspeedways, Martinsville became a track where the skill and strategy of each individual driver could overcome the big money and horsepower of the larger teams.