Looking around the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, Gordon Pirkle feels that the drivers that raced at the Lakewood Speedway are not done justice.

There is a section of the museum designated for the Atlanta raceway, but it seems to be lacking in material.

So as a way to honor the drivers, Pirkle and the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame have organized a Lakewood Speedway reunion that will take place Saturday in Dawsonville.

"I’ve been wanting to do this for a couple years," said Pirkle, a member of the Hall of Fame’s board of directors. "I hope to get more pictures and more stuff that will bolster the Hall of Fame."

More than 400 people are expected to attend the first Lakewood Reunion, including former driver Charlie Mincey, and Raymond Parks, who owned the majority of the cars that raced at Lakewood.

"That was the biggest track in this part of the country in its time," Pirkle said of the mile-long track south of Atlanta. "So many people have raced at Lakewood.

"It used to be called the Indianapolis of the South."

Aside from the celebration of the race track, Saturday’s reunion will also be a time to remember the drivers that will not be able to attend the event.

More than a dozen drivers lost their lives at Lakewood during its 62 years of operation, including 1946 Indianapolis 500 champion George Robson and T racer George Barringer. Barringer and Robson will be among the several names listed on a plaque honoring Lakewood Speedway that will be presented Saturday by Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame president Marvin Mills.

Pirkle doesn’t plan for the celebration to be a somber one, but what he does plan on is this being the first of several Lakewood Speedway reunions.

"I hope to have this event every year at this time," he said.