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Nazareth Speedway was an
auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
facility near
Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
in the
Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...
region of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
which operated from 1910 to 2004 in two distinct course configurations. In its early years, it was a
dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Dust: a gener ...
twin
oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one ...
layout. In 1987 it was reopened as a paved tri-oval that measured just slightly under 1 mile. The facility is often linked to local drivers
Mario is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...
and Michael Andretti's early racing careers. It was also associated with
Frankie Schneider Frank E. Schneider (August 11, 1926 – November 11, 2018) was a stock car, modified, midget, and sprint car racer. He had one NASCAR Grand National Series victory at Old Dominion Speedway in 1958 driving a 1957 Chevrolet. He also won the 1952 N ...
due to his large number of wins on the two dirt tracks. As of November 2015, the site was purchased by Raceway Properties LLC under David Jaindl. There are no current plans to return racing to the facility.


Track history

Nazareth Speedway started as a horse racing track farther up in the center of the town in the 1850s known as the Northampton County Agricultural Fairgrounds. As the crowds grew, the location grew too crowded to remain in the center of the town. Around 1900, a new mile dirt track was constructed at the current location between Route 191 and 248. The site began hosting motor racing events in the 1910s. In 1966, an additional 1 mile dirt track was added. In 1987, the Penske-owned paved speedway replaced the big track and the small track was demolished and the site was replaced by the expanding of a nearby grocery store in 1988.


Dirt track (small)

The mile dirt track was constructed in the 1900s as a horse racing track. The first automotive events held at the location were not racing, instead it was a sport called
auto polo Auto may refer to: * An automaton * An automobile * An autonomous car * An automatic transmission * An auto rickshaw * Short for automatic * Auto (art), a form of Portuguese dramatic play * ''Auto'' (film), 2007 Tamil comedy film * Auto (play) ...
. Following the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
the first large race that happened at the small track would be held in 1947 by the
American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA – commonly pronounced as "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 m ...
. The race included 35 cars, and attracted a crowd of 11,000 spectators. In 1952, Jerry Fried purchased the fairgrounds. He continued the racing, and added in additional events, such as
demolition derbies Demolition derby is a non-racing motorsport usually presented at county fairs and festivals. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehi ...
. The track was also the location of one of the first
enduro race An enduro race is an inexpensive type of automobile racing that takes place mostly on oval tracks. Enduro takes its name from "Endurance racing" since it consists of hundreds of laps around the oval. Vehicle It involves stock based cars that had ...
s on the east coast. The mile track continued to operate weekly during the closing of the large track from 1971 to 1982. In the time period the short track was open,
Buzzie Reutimann Emil Lloyd "Buzzie" Reutimann (born May 7, 1941) is a former NASCAR driver from Zephyrhills, Florida. He is the father of former driver David Reutimann. Reutimann was inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Eastern ...
won 33 races, leading to the 1972 and 1973 track titles. During Roger Penske's ownership in 1988, the track was sold to nearby
Laneco Laneco was a supermarket chain operating in eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. At one time it operated four types of stores. The older stores were called Food Lane, which were former Food Fair stores with the least square footage and ...
supermarket and demolished.


Dirt track (large)

The big track was opened in April 1966, as a five-turn dirt track named Nazareth National Speedway. The track featured
modified Modified may refer to: * ''Modified'' (album), the second full-length album by Save Ferris *Modified racing, or "Modifieds", an American automobile racing genre See also * Modification (disambiguation) * Modifier (disambiguation) Modifier may re ...
races. Frankie Schneider had a clean sweep at the event - he had the fastest qualifying time, won his heat race, and won the feature event. The event turned out to be the only event at the track in the season. The track held nine events in 1967, which was the most events the track hosted in one season. Schneider won five of the races. In 1968, the track hosted five modified events. Schneider won three of them. Al Tasnady started near last in the August 24, 1968 modified event, and won the race by lapping all drivers except Schneider. USAC Dirt Champ cars raced at the track on July 13, 1968. The race was won by Al Unser, who beat local driver
Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
. Mario Andretti won the USAC dirt champ car race in 1969. In addition, Rags Carter won four consecutive events. Buzzie Reutimann won a 150 lap race in 1971. Frankie Schneider won eleven races total at the track, the most of any driver. In 1971, the large track was closed, and would remain closed until facility was purchased by Lindy Vicari in 1982. Vicari cleared eleven years of plant growth, refurbished the facilities, and shortened the bigger track to a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt oval. His idea was to host a series of high-paying special events for USAC’s Championship Dirt Cars and Modifieds. The races that he staged there drew big crowds, large competition, and much acclaim. Maintaining the two dirt tracks turned out to be a larger financial burden than expected, and Vicari closed the two tracks. Brightbill’s $50,000 victory in a 125-mile Modified contest on October 9, 1983, was the last race that was run there under Vicari’s direction. The facility remained closed for three years.


Paved track

The facility and a large amount of property behind it was purchased by
Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, ...
in 1986. Penske built a new track on the footprint of the old 1 mile dirt oval. At the same time, he sold the section of the property that held the old mile track to the owners of Laneco, a former grocery store chain. Laneco built a new store on the site of the original track, which is now home to a
Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
grocery store. Penske's new track opened as Pennsylvania International Raceway in the fall of 1987. It was paved in asphalt, and had very modest banking. The elevation change during the lap was significant, as the backstretch ran steeply downhill for a drop of approximately 30 feet. The remainder of the track trekked mostly uphill. It was the first racing oval to feature a warm-up lane to enter and exit the pits, designed in part by driver
Rick Mears Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...
. In 1993, the track was renamed Nazareth Speedway. In 1997, the facility underwent improvements, including a new retaining wall,
catch fence The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings. 0–9 ;1–2 finish: When two vehicles from the same team finish first and second in a race. Can be extended to 1–2–3 or 1–2–3– ...
, and new grandstands.


Track length of paved oval

The paved track opened in 1987 and closely resembled the 1.125-mile dirt track layout. However, the length was shortened, and the turns were reconfigured to widen the radii. Though advertised as a 1-mile tri-oval, it actually measured less than one mile in length. The banking varied between 2.7° and 6.0°. The back straight was 1200 feet and main straight was 800 feet. Participants were known to exploit the inaccurate measurement for fuel strategy, knowing that they were running a shorter distance than officially advertised. In 1997, for fairness and accuracy, the track was remeasured by the CART sanctioning body, and was advertised as 0.946 miles (1.52 km) in length. The race, which had been 200 laps, was increased to 225 laps for time value purposes. This length was used between 1997 and the last CART-race in 2001. The IRL used in 2002, 2003 and 2004 a length of 0.935 miles (1.504 km) for timing and scoring. However, NASCAR stayed to a length of exactly 1 mile till closing in 2004.


Closing

Although the Nazareth Speedway hosted rather successful
Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
and CART events, new owner ISC closed the facility in late 2004. The races were replaced with events at Watkins Glen, another ISC-owned track. Access to the speedway was severely limited, and reopening as a professional motorsports facility was highly unlikely. As of May 2007, the grandstands, signage and all visible structures at the racetrack have been removed. The disassembled grandstands were transported and erected at Watkins Glen and Michigan International Speedway. The track remains fenced off and access to any part of the track or land surrounding it is restricted. Historical
Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
imagery shows that by May 2008, large piles of earth were erected at various points around the track to prevent use of the racing surface. Images as of September 2020 show those piles remain in place, though show signs of weathering. Although the track closed in 2004, it is still featured in the
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...
video games ''
NASCAR SimRacing ''NASCAR SimRacing'', abbreviated ''NSR'', is a computer racing simulator developed by EA Tiburon and released on February 15, 2005, by EA Sports for Microsoft Windows. The game includes all of the 2004 NEXTEL Cup Series drivers (including Jere ...
'', '' NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup'', '' NASCAR 06: Total Team Control'', ''
NASCAR 07 ''NASCAR 07'' is the tenth installment of the EA Sports' NASCAR video game series. It was developed by EA Tiburon and released on September 29, 2006, for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable and on November 14, 2006, for the Xbox. This was ...
'', '' NASCAR 08 (PS2)'', and '' NASCAR 09 (PS2)'', which are based on the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 NASCAR seasons, respectively. For the 2005-2008 games, the track was considered a fantasy track.


Redevelopment

In November 2015, Raceway Properties LLC purchased the property. As part of the offer, there is a non-compete clause that states that racing remains banned from returning to the property, mainly due to the proximity to
Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an AR ...
. The property is currently zoned as general commercial property, with the most recent plans being to convert sections to residential zoning and build a warehouse for local business, C. F. Martin & Company.


Lap Records

The unofficial fastest outright track record on the original 1.125-mile Oval is 37.505 seconds, set by Billy Vukovich in a
Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...
-
Offenhauser The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarly ...
, during qualifying for the
1969 Nazareth 100 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approac ...
. The fastest all-time track record on the reconfigured 0.946-mile Oval is 18.419 seconds, set by
Patrick Carpentier Patrick Carpentier (born August 13, 1971) is a retired Canadian professional auto racing driver. In the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series, he achieved five wins and 24 podiums, as well as two third place championship finishes in 2002 ...
in a Reynard 98I, during qualifying for the 1998 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix. The official race lap records at Nazareth Speedway are listed as:


Race winners


USAC Championship Car Series


Nazareth 100 (Dirt)

*1968 Al Unser *1969
Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
*1982
Keith Kauffman Keith Kauffman (born June 9, 1950) is a retired American race car driver. Over his career, he amassed 309 wins and 18 track championships. He won the 1982 USAC "Gold Crown" Nazareth 100. His only Championship Car experience was the three dirt r ...


CART/IRL Series


Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix


NASCAR Busch Series


NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series


DeVilbiss Superfinish 200

*1996
Jack Sprague Jack Sprague (born August 8, 1964) is an American former stock car racing driver who has competed in all of NASCAR's three top divisions, most notably in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he won series championships in 1997, 1999 and 2001. Raci ...
(Race shortened to 152 laps/152 miles due to rain)


NAPA AutoCare 200

*1997 Jack Sprague *1998 Ron Hornaday *1999
Greg Biffle Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and full-time in th ...


Chevy Silverado 200

*2000
Dennis Setzer Dennis Setzer (born February 27, 1960) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He has driven in all three of NASCAR's top series, scoring eighteen wins in the Camping World Truck Series. Beginnings Setzer made his NASCAR debut in t ...
*2001 Greg Biffle


NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour

*1991 Jan Leaty *1992 Jeff Fuller *1993 Tim Connolly *1994 Jeff Fuller *1995 Tony Hirschman *1996 Jan Leaty *1997
Mike Stefanik Michael Paul Stefanik (May 20, 1958 – September 15, 2019) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed mainly in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, but also made appearances in the Busch Grand National series and the Craf ...
*1998 Mike Stefanik *1999 Eddie Flemke Jr. *2000
Mike Stefanik Michael Paul Stefanik (May 20, 1958 – September 15, 2019) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed mainly in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, but also made appearances in the Busch Grand National series and the Craf ...
*2001 Mike Ewanitsko *2002 Nevin George *2003 Ted Christopher *2004 Todd Szegedy


IROC

*1989 Danny Sullivan


In popular culture

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
wrote a song about a season of racing concluding at Nazareth Speedway titled "Speedway At Nazareth". The song appears on Knopfler's second solo album, '' Sailing to Philadelphia''.


See also

*
Lake Erie Speedway Lake Erie Speedway is a 3/8 mile (0.6 km) paved, banked oval race track which opened on June 21, 2002 in Erie County, Pennsylvania south of North East, Pennsylvania, United States. It was a member of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series from ...
, Erie County, south of
North East, Pennsylvania North East is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States, northeast of Erie. Located in the county's northeastern corner, the name comes from the geographical location. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census, down from 4,294 ...
*
Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an AR ...


References


External links


Nazareth Speedway Page
o
NASCAR.com


{{Authority control Champ Car circuits NASCAR tracks International Race of Champions tracks Buildings and structures in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Motorsport venues in Pennsylvania IndyCar Series tracks 1910 establishments in Pennsylvania 2004 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Defunct motorsport venues in the United States NASCAR races at Nazareth Speedway