Occoneechee Speedway was one of the first two

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

tracks to open. It closed in 1968 and is the only dirt track remaining from the inaugural 1949 season.Brief History, Page 1
/ref> It is located just outside the town of

Hillsborough, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hillsb ...

Site history

Occoneechee Speedway / Orange Speedway

The Occoneechee Farm occupied the land in the late 19th century. The farm was named after the Occaneechi Indians that lived in the area in the late 17th century and late 18th century. The landowner, Julian S. Carr, raced horses, and built a half mile horse racing track on the site.Brief History, Page 2
/ref> Bill France noticed the horse racing track and expanse of open land while piloting his airplane. On the site of the earlier horse track, he built a 0.9-mile dirt track in September 1947, two months before

was organized. In its earliest days,

Fonty Flock Truman Fontell "Fonty" Flock (March 21, 1920 – July 15, 1972) was an American stock car racer. Flock family He was the brother of NASCAR pioneers Tim Flock and Bob Flock, and the second female NASCAR driver Ethel Mobley. The four race ...

and his brothers

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

and Tim dominated the track.

Louise Smith Louise Smith (July 31, 1916, in Barnesville, Georgia – April 15, 2006) was tied for the second woman to race in NASCAR at the top level. She was known as "the first lady of racing." She went as a spectator to her first NASCAR race at the Dayt ...

became

's first female driver at the track in the fall of 1949. The Occoneechee Speedway hosted stock car racing legends such as

Fireball Roberts Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. (January 20, 1929July 2, 1964) was an American stock car racer. Background Roberts was born in Tavares, Florida, and raised in Apopka, Florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. He was ...

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

Ned Jarrett Ned Jarrett (born October 12, 1932) is an American retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR Grand National Series champion. Because of his calm demeanor, he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett". He is the father of former drivers Glenn Jar ...

and

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

. It was a crown jewel in NASCAR for most of its existence. The Sunday racing schedule prompted grassroots opposition in Hillsborough, and the final race at the track, which by that time was called the Orange Speedway, was a

victory on September 15, 1968. The loss of the speedway later made Bill France look for a new spot in the area to build a bigger, better, and faster track with speeds in excess of Daytona International Speedway. Eventually he looked towards South Carolina and eventually Alabama where he built the

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...

which opened a year later where it took Occoneechee Speedway’s date on the schedule. The Occoneechee/Orange speedway, along with

North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill fr ...

, is one of the inspirations for the dirt track Thomasville Speedway in the Pixar movie ''

Cars 3 ''Cars 3'' is a 2017 American computer-animated sports comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to ''Cars 2'' (2011) and the third installment of the ''Cars'' film series, the ...

'' in which Petty voices the character Strip Weathers.

Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail

The Occoneechee Speedway site is now heavily forested with pines and sycamores. The grandstands are still visible, as is much of the mile–long oval track. It was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and now comprises with over of trails. A walking trail was built in 2003 that crisscrosses the clay track. A non-profit local group
The Historic Speedway Group
continues to organize volunteers to renovate historic structures and maintain the track and trails. The group has collected an impressive archive of videos, photographs, and historical information about the site. In 2022, the site, owned by the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, was transferred to state ownership to become part of

Eno River State Park Eno River State Park is a North Carolina state park in Durham and Orange Counties, North Carolina. Together with the adjoining West Point on the Eno city park, the two parks preserve over 14 miles (22.5 km) of the Eno River and surroundi ...

Winners

Gallery

Image:Hillsborough 1938 aerial.jpg, The horse racetrack on Occoneechee farm, 1938 Image:Hillsborough 1955 aerial.jpg, Aerial view of Occoneechee Speedway in 1955 File:Occoneechee tickets.jpg, Former ticket office File:Occoneechee outhouse.jpg, Former outhouse location File:Occoneechee Pepsi.jpg, Pepsi coolers at the concession area File:Occoneechee lights.jpg, View of the grandstand lights File:Occoneechee stairs.jpg, Stairs leading from the track level through the grandstands File:Occoneechee stands.jpg, Overgrowth covers the remains of the grandstand File:Occoneechee Speedway straightaway.jpg, The track around the start/finish line File:Occoneechee-Stands-2010.jpg, Grandstands back in use – 2010 Car Show File:Old car at the Occoneechee Speedway, NC.jpg, A rusted car that was modified for racing on the speedway

References

External links

The Historic Speedway GroupKickin' Up Dust At The Orange SpeedwayNASCAR track history at racing-reference.info
{{Triangle sports venues NASCAR tracks Motorsport venues in North Carolina Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Sports venues in Orange County, North Carolina Companies based in Hillsborough, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, North Carolina 1947 establishments in North Carolina Sports venues completed in 1947 1968 disestablishments in North Carolina