Beneath a canopy of pine trees and surrounding a lush meadow in a dense forest right outside Hillsborough, sits an unassuming trail.
It is a distinct oval loop in a local network of trails, frequented by joggers and casual hikers alike. Sights along the trail include the Eno River and occasional wildlife, but also a rusted car body. And another. A wooden stand across from concrete seating built into the hill — the grandstands.
In its heyday, this nearly mile-long loop, the Historic Occoneechee Speedway, was a dirt racing track, used in NASCAR’s inaugural season in 1949. Today, it is the only surviving dirt track from that first season, but has not been in use as a speedway since 1968.
Herbert Cates’ 1940 Chevrolet lies to the side of the track, the once-green livery now covered in rust. The windshield is smashed and the forest floor has replaced what used to be the car’s floor.
A bit further is the second rusted car body, a later model. It sits beneath the stand where racing cars would have lined up and where drivers sought the checkered flag.
The track’s role in early motorsport earned it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It has been preserved by the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation and is in the process of being sold to the state as an addition to Eno River State Park, which will preserve the track and keep it accessible to the public.
“While we always say the sport was born on the beach in Daytona, really the heart of the series was North Carolina,” Ken Martin, the director of historical content for NASCAR and NASCAR Studios, said.
Most NASCAR teams are headquartered in North Carolina. The sport generates several billion dollars in annual revenue and hundreds of jobs per year throughout the state.
In 2011, North Carolina designated stock car racing as the official state sport.
