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".
Hickory Motor Speedway
America’s Most Famous Short Track Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars
The track first opened in 1951 as a 1⁄2-mile (0.80 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 0.4-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.
External linksedit
Official Site of Hickory Motor Speedway
Hickory Motor Speedway race results at Racing-Reference
hickory, motor, speedway, this, article, includes, list, references, related, reading, external, links, sources, remain, unclear, because, lacks, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, march, 2018, learn. This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 Hickory Motor SpeedwayAmerica s Most Famous Short TrackBirthplace of the NASCAR StarsLocationHickory North CarolinaTime zoneESTCapacity10 200Opened1951 72 years ago 1951 Major eventsJack Ingram Memorial Bobby Isaac Memorial Annual Fall Brawl NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Pro All Stars Series South Super Late Model Tour Easter Bunny 150 Cars TourOvalSurfaceAsphaltLength0 363 3 8 mile miles 0 584 km Turns4Banking14 turns 1 amp 2 12 turns 3 amp 4 8 straights The track first opened in 1951 as a 1 2 mile 0 80 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 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 External links editOfficial Site of Hickory Motor Speedway Hickory Motor Speedway race results at Racing Reference 35 41 45 N 81 16 10 W 35 69583 N 81 26944 W 35 69583 81 26944 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hickory Motor Speedway amp oldid 1167289123, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
