Hickory Motor Speedway is a short track located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most storied venues, and is often referred to as the "World's Most Famous Short Track" and the "Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars".
The track first opened in 1951 as a 1⁄2-mile (0.80km) dirt track. Gwyn Staley won the first race at the speedway and later became the first track champion. Drivers such as Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, and Ralph Earnhardt also became track champions in the 1950s, with Earnhardt winning five of them.
In 1953, NASCAR's Grand National Series (later the NASCAR Cup Series) visited the track for the first time. Tim Flock won the first race at the speedway, which became a regular part of the Grand National schedule. After winning his track championship in 1952, Junior Johnson became the most successful Grand National driver at Hickory, winning there seven times.
The track has been re-configured three times in its history. The track became a 0.4-mile (644 meters) dirt track in 1955, which was paved for the first time during the 1967 season. In 1970, the Hickory track was shortened to a length of 0.363 miles (584 meters).
Hickory was dropped from the Grand National schedule after the 1971 season when R. J. Reynolds began sponsoring the newly christened NASCAR Winston Cup Series and dropped all races under 250 miles (402 kilometers) from the schedule. It remained in use as a popular NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series venue. When the series was reformed as the Budweiser Late Model Series (later the Busch Grand National Series and currently the Xfinity Series) in 1982, Hickory played a prominent part of its first season, hosting six of the series' 28 races. Drivers Jack Ingram and Tommy Houston, two former track champions, each won eight times at the track in the Busch Series.
As more tracks began hosting Busch Series races, Hickory's involvement was progressively reduced to two races a year by 1987, and then just the Easter weekend by 1995. By 1998, the Busch Grand National Series began adding more races at Winston Cup Series tracks, and Hickory was dropped from the schedule after 17 years.
Hickory is still used as a venue for NASCAR's club racing division, the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, Carolina Pro Late Model Series, Carolina Crate Modified Series, Pro All Stars Series South Super Late Models and the CARS Tour featuring Late Model Stocks and Pro Late Model touring series cars.
Kerry Dale Earnhardt is a former NASCAR driver and the eldest son of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt. He is the half-brother of former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller. He was employed by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as a consultant specializing in driver development until 2011. His younger son, Jeffrey Earnhardt, began racing for DEI in 2007 and currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Kerry Earnhardt is known for his physical similarity to his father.
David Gene Pearson was an American stock car driver, who raced from 1960 to 1986 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series, most notably driving the No. 21 Mercury for Wood Brothers Racing. Pearson won the 1960 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award and three Cup Series championships. He never missed a race in the years he was active. NASCAR described his 1974 season as an indication of his "consistent greatness", finishing third in the season points having competed in only 19 of 30 races. Pearson's career paralleled Richard Petty's, the driver who has won the most races in NASCAR history. They accounted for 63 first/second-place finishes, with the edge going to Pearson. Petty had 200 wins in 1,184 starts, while Pearson had 105 wins in 574 starts. Pearson was nicknamed the "Fox" for his calculated approach to racing.
South Boston Speedway, or "SoBo", is a short track located just outside South Boston, Virginia. SoBo is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) east of another area familiar to most NASCAR fans, Martinsville. It is owned by Mattco, Inc., the Mattioli family trust that owns Pocono Raceway, with general manager Brandon Brown operating the track, replacing Cathy Rice who retired in 2021 after serving in that role for 21 years and Chase Brashears who was in the role for two years. NASCAR's three national series have raced at the track, though the Cup Series has not done so since 1971, while the Busch Series last raced here in 2000. After the Busch Series left the schedule, the Craftsman Truck Series competed at SoBo for a few years between 2001 and 2003. The SRX Series visited the track in 2022.
North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about 5 mi (8.0 km) east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures 0.625 mi (1.006 km) and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races, including the now-defunct ASA Late Model Series, USARacing Pro Cup Series, and PASS super late models, before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing and hosted the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race and a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, with further renovations planned after the events. In 2024 the track will host the championship finale for the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, CARS Pro Late Model Tour, and SMART Modified Tour on the same weekend.
Ned Jarrett is an American retired race car driver and broadcaster. He is a 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 Jarrett and Dale Jarrett.
Shane Riley Hmiel is an American former racecar driver, who competed in all three of NASCAR's national series. Hmiel's controversial stock car career, marred by accidents from his aggressive driving style, ended in 2006 after he failed a third substance abuse test and was banned from competing in NASCAR for life. After rebuilding his career in open wheel racing, primarily in United States Auto Club sanctioned dirt track racing, Hmiel was paralyzed in a near fatal racing accident on October 9, 2010, in Terre Haute, Indiana. Prior to the accident, Hmiel had become the first driver to win the Hoosier Hundred, Rich Vogler Classic, and the Pat O'Connor Memorial, the three premier USAC midget-car races, in the same season.
Myrtle Beach Speedway, was built in 1958 and was located on U.S. Route 501 near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
James Edward Hensley is a former NASCAR driver. With a career spanning 27 seasons in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions, Hensley may be best remembered for his Rookie of the Year award won in 1992, his 15th season in the series, and for his nine career Busch Series wins. He spent most of his career working as an oil truck driver in addition to racing. He was best known as being a substitute driver for many teams.
Orange County Speedway is a 3⁄8 mile (0.60 km) asphalt oval in Orange County, North Carolina, near Rougemont. It first opened in 1966 as a 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) and a 5⁄8 mile (1.0 km) dirt oval, which operated until 1967 and 1973, respectively. The facility was reopened and paved in 1983. With a slogan of "the fastest 3/8-mile race track in America," the oval features 19-degree banking through the turns and 16 degrees on the straightaways, creating three distinct grooves making for very fast turns. The aluminum grandstands stretch from Turn 4 all the way down the front straightaway to Turn 1. The speedway closed in 2003 but reopened on March 11, 2006.
Tommy Houston is a retired NASCAR Busch Series driver. Over his career, Houston and Jack Ingram became known as the pair of journeymen drivers that helped that series grow throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1984.
Mike Cope is a retired American stock car racing driver. A two-time champion of the NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series, he also competed in the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He is no relation to Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope.
The 1968 Hickory 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 7, 1968, at Hickory Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.
The 1961 Buddy Shuman 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 8, 1961, at Hickory Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.
The 1956 Buddy Shuman 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on November 11, 1956, at Hickory Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.
The 1966 Buddy Shuman 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 9, 1966, at Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.
The 1959 Hickory 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 2, 1959, at Hickory Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.
The Galaxy Food Centers 300 was a NASCAR Busch Series stock car race held at Hickory Motor Speedway, a .363-mile (0.584 km) paved oval track located in Hickory, North Carolina. One of the inaugural events of the Busch Series from its 1982 season, it was one of five races the series ran at the track in 1982, four from 1983 to 1985, three in 1986 and, from 1987 to 1994, was the series' first of two annual visits to the track; from 1995 to 1998 it was the only visit to the track by the series annually. until Hickory Motor Speedway departed the series schedule after the 1998 season. The race distance was 300 laps in 1982 and from 1992 to 1998, 200 laps from 1983 to 1990, and 276 laps in 1992.
Nathan Buttke is a former stock car racing driver. The Randleman, North Carolina native competed in 55 NASCAR Busch Series races and 22 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races between 1992 and 2001.
Amber Balcaen is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. She competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 22 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports. She is most known for being the first Canadian woman to win in a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
