Moyock, North Carolina

Moyock (pronounced /ˈmoʊjɒk/) is an unincorporated community in Currituck County, North Carolina.

Geography

It is located on NC 168 just south of the Virginia state line. The community sits at the end of the Chesapeake Expressway toll road, and is only a short drive from downtown Norfolk, Virginia. Because of this, Moyock has begun to witness an increase in residential development as an emerging commuter town for Hampton Roads.

Driving distances

Areas north of the N.C. state line are a short to medium distance away. Moyock is the closest of all North Carolina locales to these following places:

• To the Delmarva at Fisherman Island before the CBBT Toll Booth is 47 miles away. This is approximately a 35 to 45 minute drive.

• To the Mason-Dixon line at Selbyville, Delaware is 160 miles at approximately 2.5 to 3 hours of driving.

• To the New Jersey state line is 198 miles to the nautical state line between Delaware and New Jersey along the Delaware Bay of approximately 3.5 to 4 hours of driving not including the Cape May-Lewes Ferry (CMLF). This is the closest distance that North Carolina is to the Northeast. The first municipality at the end of the CMLF is North Cape May, Cape May County which is another 10 nautical miles on the ferry after the nautical state line.

Greyhound Racing in Moyock

Originally located in Princess Anne County, Virginia (now Virginia Beach, Virginia) in the 1930s, when anti-gambling forces forced it's shutdown, the Cavalier Kennel Club moved their greyhound racing operations to a half-mile south of the Virginia-North Carolina state-line and 15-miles north of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to 220 Caratoke (HWY 168) Highway, Moyock, North Carolina.

The track was a 0.25 mile oval.

The Cavalier Kennel Club, mainly drawing their gamblers and spectators from what are today the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Franklin, Virginia, operated in Moyock in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The track's primary market was the thousands of service men (mostly United States Navy personnel) that were stationed in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area.

Once again anti-gambling forces prevailed and the track was shuttered for good shortly after the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the North Carolina State Legislature's anti-dog racing law in 1954.

The Cavalier Kennel Club's unique claim to greyhound racing fame is that it was where Paul Hartwell invented the greyhound letter rating system, which stood as the standard for all greyhound racing until the Composite Speed Rating was instituted in 2009.

NASCAR in Moyock

Moyock had an auto racing track called Dog Track Speedway. The track was built on the former site of The Cavalier Kennel Club dog racing track where greyhounds were raced in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Beginning in 1962 Dog Track Speedway was a 0.25 oval dirt track. It was paved and lengthened to 0.333 mile in 1964.

It hosted seven NASCAR races from 1962–1966. The Moyock 300 was held there from 1964–1965, and the Tidewater 300 was held there in 1965.

As with the Cavalier Kennel Club, the Dog Track Speedway drew their spectators primarily from the nearby cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Virginia.

Ned Jarrett won the most races at the track with two wins in 1962 and 1964. He ran there six times and finished all six races. He drove Ford's every time. His total winnings at the Dog Track Speedway were $4,631.

"The King" Richard Petty also raced there six times driving Plymouth's in all six races. Despite being on The Pole twice (1965 & 1966), his best finishes there were two 3rd.'s. Unlike Jarrett, Petty only finished three of his races there. His total winnings at the Dog Track Speedway were $1,700.

The final NASCAR race was run there on Sunday, May 29, 1966. It was 301 laps (99.9 miles), and was won by David Pearson in a 1964 Dodge, with an average speed of 61.913 miles per hour. He won $1,000.

The track was closed later in 1966 due to declining attendance, poor revenues and bigger and faster tracks being built.

The track was located a half-mile south of the Virginia-North Carolina state-line on Highway 168, and the entry road still exists. The light towers that once surrounded the track and pit area are still there, and are visible from the highway. Some of the racing surface still exists and there is evidence of the old flag stand.

International business

Moyock is the corporate headquarters of Xe Services LLC which is home to Blackwater.

External links

• Moyock Fire Department

Coordinates: 36°31′29″N 76°10′42″W / 36.52472°N 76.17833°W / 36.52472; -76.17833