NASCAR has been racing across America since the 1940s and has hosted events in states from Oregon to Alabama. If you want to visit one of those tracks to soak up some of the NASCAR atmosphere, you’d normally have to fork out hundreds of dollars for a race day ticket, but you can actually explore a historic NASCAR race location while out enjoying the peace and tranquility of the countryside.
Peace and tranquility aren’t words you’d usually use to describe a race series that sees V8-powered monsters face off over hundreds of miles, but it’s the best way to describe what remains of the Occoneechee Speedway.
Built in the 1940s, the Occoneechee Speedway is the only remaining track that was used in the inaugural NASCAR season way back in 1949. Now, instead of hosting race cars every weekend, it hosts walkers and other adventurous types as the site has been reclaimed by mother nature.
Located just outside the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina, the race track shut its doors way back in 1968 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places, meaning that you can visit the site and explore it to your heart’s content. That’s exactly what YouTuber Mobile Instinct did in one of his latest uploads, offering a glimpse at the racing kit that still remains dotted across the 44-acre site.
In one of the latest uploads from Mobile Instinct, host Chris headed to Occoneechee Speedway to see what remains of the 76-year-old race track. While walking a lap of the circuit, he uncovered abandoned cars left to rust in the forest and even the tower from which the checkered flag would have waved to signal the end of the final race back in 1968. The estate is also home to old grand stands that would once have hosted race fans and there’s even an old concession stand that’s plastered with aging Pepsi logos.
In the video, which you can watch for yourself below, Chris explained that the track was originally built in the 1800s as a horse racing venue, before the advent of cars led racers to the site for early stock car meets.
Today, the only racing you’ll find at the site will be sprints between siblings out walking around the 44-acre park, which is maintained by the Historic Speedway Group. The organization regularly heads to the site with volunteers to maintain what remains of the old buildings and grandstands on site.
It looks like a lovely place for an afternoon adventure and brings together two of my favorite things: empty woodlands to run around in and vintage race cars. Have you ever explored this part of the world, or do you know of another abandoned race track that’s ripe for some urban exploration? We’d love to hear about it.
If this hasn’t quite scratched your itch for exploring abandoned places, you can head here to see what it’s like inside a deserted international airport, or here to see inside a ship graveyard on the outskirts of New York.
