Occoneechee Speedway

Occoneechee Speedway

Location	Hillsborough, North Carolina
Owner	Preservation North Carolina
Operator	Closed
Opened	May 5, 1947
Closed	June 1968
Former names	Orange Speedway
Major events	Hillsboro 150 (1949-1968)
Length	1.5 km (0.9 mi)

Occoneechee Speedway
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	Elizabeth Brady, 0.3 N of US 70 Business, Hillsborough, North Carolina
Coordinates:	36°4′23″N 79°4′57″W / 36.07306°N 79.0825°W / 36.07306; -79.0825Coordinates: 36°4′23″N 79°4′57″W / 36.07306°N 79.0825°W / 36.07306; -79.0825
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	02000435 [1]
Added to NRHP:	May 2, 2002

Occoneechee Speedway was one of the first two NASCAR tracks to open. It closed in 1968 and is the only dirt track remaining from the inaugural 1949 season.^[2]

It is located just outside the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Site history

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.^[3]

Bill France noticed the horse racing track and expanse of open land while piloting his airplane.^[3] On the site of the earlier horse track, he built a 0.9 dirt mile track in September, 1947, two months before NASCAR was organized. In its earliest days, Fonty Flock and his brothers Bob and Tim dominated the track. Louise Smith became NASCAR's first female driver at the track in the fall of 1949.

The Occoneechee Speedway hosted stock car racing legends such as Fireball Roberts, Richard Petty, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson.

The track was renamed Orange Speedway in 1954.^[4]

The horse racetrack on Occoneechee farm, 1938

"The "improved" horse racetrack, enlarged to the north for auto racing, 1955

In part due the resistance of the local religious authorities, William France Sr. finally gave up on the Occoneechee Speedway. On September 15, 1968 France shut down the operation after Richard Petty's win.^[4] He moved to Alabama, where he had bought an 1,800-acre (7 km²) site forty miles east of Birmingham. There he built the biggest and fastest NASCAR track of them all: the famous Talladega Superspeedway.

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 and now comprises 44 acres (180,000 m²) with over 3 miles (4.8 km) of trails.^[2] A walking trail was built in 2003 that crisscrosses the clay track.

Winners

Race	Date	Cars	Winner	Make / Model	Length	Miles	Purse	Pole	Speed
1949-03	08/07/49	28	Bob Flock	'48 Oldsmobile	1.000	200	$5,000	76.800
1950-10	08/13/50	27	Fireball Roberts	'49 Oldsmobile	1.000	100	$3,975
1950-19	10/29/50	29	Lee Petty	'49 Plymouth	1.000	175	$4,675	85.898
1951-05	04/15/51	33	Fonty Flock	'50 Oldsmobile	1.000	95	$4,665	88.287	80.889
1951-31	10/07/51	24	Herb Thomas	'51 Hudson	1.000	150	$3,550	79.628	72.454
1952-15	06/08/52	19	Tim Flock	'51 Hudson	1.000	100	$3,425	91.977	81.008
1952-30	10/12/52	29	Fonty Flock	'52 Oldsmobile	1.000	150	$5,045	75.901	73.489
1953-26	08/09/53	19	Curtis Turner	'53 Oldsmobile	1.000	100	$3,425	89.078	75.125
1954-08	04/18/54	28	Herb Thomas	'54 Hudson	1.000	100	$3,825	86.767	77.386
1955-07	03/27/55	21	Jim Paschal	'55 Oldsmobile	1.000	100	$3,800	91.896	82.304
1955-45	10/30/55	25	Tim Flock	'55 Chrysler	1.000	100	$4,285	81.673	70.465
1956-17	05/13/56	31	Buck Baker	'56 Chrysler	.900	90	$4,285	89.305	83.720
1956-50	09/30/56	23	Fireball Roberts	'56 Ford	.900	99	$4,560	88.067	72.734
1957-07	03/24/57	19	Buck Baker	'57 Chevrolet	.900	99	$3,835	87.828	82.233
1958-06	03/23/58	18	Buck Baker	'57 Chevrolet	.900	99	$3,585	83.076	78.502
1958-47	09/28/58	33	Joe Eubanks	'57 Pontiac	.900	99	$3,885	87.308	72.439
1959-04	03/01/59	22	Curtis Turner	'59 T-Bird	.900	99	$3,785	87.544	81.612
1959-40	09/20/59	22	Lee Petty	'59 Plymouth	.900	99	$3,945	85.533	77.868
1960-18	05/29/60	23	Lee Petty	'60 Plymouth	.900	99	$3,985	88.190	83.583
1960-39	09/18/60	18	Richard Petty	'60 Plymouth	.900	99	$3,785	85.285	80.161
1961-11	04/02/61	20	Cotton Owens	'60 Pontiac	.900	99	$3,895	91.836	84.695
1961-52	10/29/61	20	Joe Weatherly	'61 Pontiac	.900	149	$5,625	95.154	85.249
1962-09	03/18/62	21	Rex White	'61 Chevrolet	.900	99	$4,575	96.285	86.948
1963-10	03/10/63	23	Junior Johnson	'63 Chevrolet	.900	149	$6,900	95.716	83.129
1963-54	10/27/63	24	Joe Weatherly	'63 Pontiac	.900	150	$6,650	93.156	85.559
1964-15	04/12/64	27	David Pearson	'64 Dodge	.900	150	$6,800	99.784	83.319
1964-55	09/20/64	28	Ned Jarrett	'64 Ford	.900	150	$7,000	89.280	86.725
1965-08	03/14/65	23	Ned Jarrett	'65 Ford	.900	150	$6,600	98.570	90.663
1965-53	10/24/65	20	Dick Hutcherson	'65 Ford	.900	101	$4,540	98.810	87.462
1966-45	09/18/66	23	Dick Hutcherson	'66 Ford	.900	150	$6,600	95.716	90.603
1967-44	09/17/67	28	Richard Petty	'67 Plymouth	.900	150	$6,850	94.159	81.574
1968-43	09/15/68	24	Richard Petty	'68 Plymouth	.900	150	$6,900	93.245	87.681

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Brief History, Page 1
3. ^ ^{a b} Brief History, Page 2
4. ^ ^{a b} Brief History, Page 3

Sources

• Occoneechee-Orange Speedway by Ed Sanseverino

External links

• The Historic Speedway Group
• Occoneechee Speedway Trail
• Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail
• Racing vs. Religion: A Brief History of Occoneechee Speedway
• Kickin' Up Dust At The Orange Speedway
• Occoneechee Speedway: from Eno River website
• NASCAR track history at racing-reference.info

Occoneechee-Orange Speedway - Magazine (Speedway Spotlite Publications) by Ed Sanseverino (1994)