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  *Comments on Occoneechee Speedway:*
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  1.   Cooper posted:
  03.15.2010 - 1:53 pm
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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.
It is located just outside the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina.

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 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. This tracks demise led to
the building, of now popular racetrack Talladega Superspeedway.

The Occoneechee Speedway site is now heavily forested with pines and
sycamores. The grandstands are still visible, as is much of the
mileā??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. A walking trail was built in 2003 that
crisscrosses the clay track.


  2.   Mike Umstead posted:
  09.05.2010 - 1:00 pm
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Would like to see the results of the early modified races.The first race
I saw at the speedway was won by Tim Flock driving the black #91 Ford of
Taft Sloan out of Sanford.It sure brought back some memories when I saw
that car at the reunion.


  3.   Karen32f posted:
  04.02.2015 - 7:44 pm
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This is the correct spelling of the town, not Hillsboro.

Historic Occoneechee Speedway
320 Elizabeth Brady Rd, Hillsborough, NC 27278


  4.   Anonymous posted:
  04.02.2015 - 8:40 pm
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Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hillsboro" over the years
(beginning in the 19th century) but was changed back to its original
spelling in the late 1960s.

Hillsboro is correct for the time period of when the races were run.


  5.   Michael Schwartz posted:
  06.20.2015 - 3:17 am
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In recent years the track site has been cleaned up, with the concrete
grandstands and several auxiliary structures rebuilt. There is an annual
racers' reunion, where original, restored or recreated race cars will
drive from the car show to the track and run laps for a crowd of
thousands. For more information, you can visit
"www.historicspeedwaygroup.org"


  6.   A posted:
  07.09.2020 - 11:02 pm
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Looks like the Speedway Trail also includes a large portion of the entry
road to the church. It's amazing to look at historic aerials and see not
just the changes to the track itself but the incredible growth of trees
over the former parking areas and entry roads.


  7.   Corey posted:
  07.20.2020 - 8:53 pm
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Featured on Season 1, Episode 6 of Dale Earnhardt Jr's ?Lost Speedways?


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