Orange County Speedway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orange County Speedway first opened in the 1960s, and is located in Orange County, near Rougemont, North Carolina.
With a slogan of The Fastest 3/8-mile Race Track in America, this oval features 19 degree banking through the turns and 16 degrees on the straights creating four distinct grooves making for very fast turns. The grandstands stretch from Turn 4 all the way down the front to Turn 1.
It was shut down in October, 2003 but was recently purchased and has reopened for the 2006 season as an American Speed Association Member Track.
Some of the most famous names in stock car racing have raced at the Orange County Speedway, including Jeff and Ward Burton, Elliott and Hermie Sadler, Scott Riggs, Todd Bodine and Bobby Labonte. Such notables as David Pearson and Glen Wood raced around Orange County Speedway back in the 1960s when this facility first opened as a dirt track.
Orange County Speedway is located in Northeastern Orange County on the site of the original Trico Motor Speedway, which was built in the early 1960s. What originally opened as a dirt facility was paved and is currently a 3/8ths mile (.375) asphalt, high- banked oval track. The oval has 16 degree banking in the straightaway and 19 degree banking in the turns. The banking and wide-sweeping turns make this facility the fastest 3/8 mile track in the country. The track averages 50 feet wide, which offers plenty of room for side by side racing among competitors. Orange County Speedway has also, in the past, won a National Speed Award for 3/8 mile track and has won several awards from the Daytona Speedweek’s RPM Race Promoter’s Workshop Awards.
This facility offers grandstand seating that follows the curvature of the track, along the front, from turn four to turn one, which means that there is an excellent view of the track from every seat. There is a VIP box in turn four that will accommodate 40 people in air-conditioned comfort. This view offers a close up view of all the exciting turn four action, as well as a fabulous view of the entire track.
Orange County Speedway was one of the first tracks in the area to have live televised Busch races. Some of the top Winston Cup stars of yesterday and today “cut their teeth” in racing as regulars at OCS. The list includes Bobby Labonte, Todd Bodine and Jeff and Ward Burton. Most recently, Scott Riggs of Bahama, North Carolina, began his racing career here at the Orange County Speedway. Over the years, many others have competed at OCS in Late Model Sportsman and Busch Races. Some other well-known drivers to have raced at Orange County Speedway include Stacey Compton, Greg Davis, Barry Beggarly, and Stacey Puryear, as well as Maurice Hill who is one of the winningest drivers at Orange County Speedway, and Timothy Peters, Late Model Stock Champion at OCS in 2002 and 2003.
[edit] External links
- http://www.ocstrack.com/ Official website
