Nature and NASCAR may seem like an odd combination, since it can be hard to enjoy the great outdoors while 30 stock cars are blasting out 100 to 130 decibels on the track. Yet when the racing’s over — permanently — all that space can be a great place for enjoying a breath of fresh air. That’s what happened to the Occoneechee Speedway, which opened near Hillsborough, North Carolina in 1948 and closed for racing in 1968. The local flora and fauna began reclaiming the area soon after the racers left, but the old track wasn’t forgotten.
Occoneechee held an especially warm place in the hearts of NASCAR fans since it was home to the organization’s third-ever race in its first-ever season. In fact, it’s the only dirt track left from NASCAR’s inaugural year, and that made it a fitting choice to be added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. A walking trail was created a year later for easier access. Finally, just this year, the track and 200 surrounding acres became an official part of North Carolina’s Eno River State Park.
The vintage speedway is included in the Moonshine and Motorsport Trail as well. Created in 2023 by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, it celebrates two of the state’s most popular pastimes that continue to have a unique connection: Remember, NASCAR’s All-Star trophy is a moonshine still.
The history of the Occoneechee Speedway
The speedway began life as a horse track, but Bill France Sr. — NASCAR’s founder — was flying over the area one day and decided it would make a good setting for a different kind of horsepower. France got his hands on the land in 1947, expanded the track from half to a full mile, and hosted the track’s first NASCAR race in June, 1949. The winner was Bob Flock, who went on to take the checkered flag in 36 NASCAR Grand National and 200 Modified events.
The track became a mainstay of the NASCAR circuit, some years playing home to two races per season. Other big-name winners there included Fireball Roberts, Lee Petty, Richard Petty, and Ned Jarrett, while there was a surprising dash of diversity in the track’s early years. Wendell Scott, the first Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup race, competed there a dozen times and notched three finishes in the top 10. (It only took until 2025 for NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace to become the first black driver to win on the famed Indianapolis oval.) And that very first event, in 1949, featured two female drivers, Sara Christian and Louise Smith.
You could say that Occoneechee was a victim of its own success, though. As the story goes, local clergy members weren’t too keen on their own flocks attending the Sunday races, so they eventually got the town to make them illegal. The open date on the NASCAR calendar was filled by the then-new Talladega Superspeedway that debuted in 1969.
Other race tracks returned to nature
Occoneechee Speedway is just one of a number of decommissioned racetracks that have gone from green flags to greenways over the years. Another in the United States is the former Meadowdale International Raceway near Chicago. Originally a 3.27-mile road circuit, Meadowdale was home to a wide variety of motorsports, ranging from top-flight open-wheel racing courtesy of the United States Auto Club — formerly the longtime sanctioning body for the Indy 500 — to snowmobile events. Nowadays, Meadowdale is part of the Raceway Woods forest preserve, which includes areas for both biking and hiking.
Meadowdale was known for its high-banked Monza Wall turn, and that takes us across the pond to Monza Park in Lombardy, Italy, where the name came from. Covering some 1,730 acres, it’s among the largest enclosed parks in all of Europe, and within its friendly confines is the famed Monza racetrack, both old and new. The new is still functioning, of course, but you can also hike and bicycle through not only the park grounds, but also parts of the older track.
In addition, you can walk through part of England’s old Silverstone track, site of numerous British Grand Prixes, along with fantastic circuits such Spa-Fancorchamps in France — also the stuff of nightmares when scaled up for a video game — and Germany’s Hockenheim ring. It’s a unique chance to get up close and personal with some of the most historically important venues in all of motorsports.
