Hickory Motor Speedway
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (March 2018) |
| America’s Most Famous Short Track Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hickory, North Carolina |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (UTC−04:00 DST) |
| Coordinates | 35°41′45″N 81°16′10″W / 35.69583°N 81.26944°W |
| Capacity | 10,200 |
| Opened | June 1951 |
| Major events | Current: SMART Modified Tour (2006, 2011, 2021–present) CARS Tour (1999–present) Former: NASCAR Busch Series Galaxy Food Centers 300 (1982–1998) The Pantry 300 (1982–1994) NASCAR Southeast Series (1995, 2004) NASCAR Grand National East Series (1972–1973) NASCAR Winston Cup Series (1953–1971) NASCAR Convertible Series (1956–1959) |
| Website | https://hickorymotorspeedway.com/ |
| Paved Oval (1970–present) | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 0.363 miles (0.584 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | Turns 1 & 2: 14° Turns 3 & 4: 12° Straights:8° |
| Paved Oval (1967–1969) | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 0.400 miles (0.644 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Dirt Oval (1955–1966) | |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Length | 0.400 miles (0.644 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Original Dirt Oval (1951–1954) | |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Length | 0.500 miles (0.805 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
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 0.500 mi (0.805 km) 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 0.400 mi (0.644 km) 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 mi (0.584 km).
Hickory was dropped from the NASCAR 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 mi (400 km) from the schedule. It remained in use as a popular NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series venue. When the series was reformed as the NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Series (later the Busch Grand National Series and currently the NASCAR 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 NASCAR 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 NASCAR 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.
External links
[edit]- Official Site of Hickory Motor Speedway
- Hickory Motor Speedway race results at Racing-Reference