Wilson Speedway

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Former racetrack

Coordinates35°41′56″N 77°55′48″W / 35.699°N 77.930°W / 35.699; -77.930

Opened1934; 91 years ago (1934)

Closed1989; 36 years ago (1989)

Wilson Speedway
oval
Location	Wilson, North Carolina
Coordinates	35°41′56″N 77°55′48″W / 35.699°N 77.930°W / 35.699; -77.930
Opened	1934; 91 years ago (1934)
Closed	1989; 36 years ago (1989)
Major events	NASCAR Cup Series NASCAR Convertible Series
Surface	dirt
Length	0.50 mi (0.8 km)

Wilson Speedway was a half-mile dirt oval located in Wilson, North Carolina that held 12 NASCAR Cup Series between 1951 and 1960 and 5 races in the NASCAR Convertible Series from 1956 to 1958.^[1] and continued to hold local races until 1989 when the track was closed. The track was located at the Wilson County American Legion Fair Grounds.^[2]

The track opened in 1934 and originally held horse racing before switching to becoming an auto racing track in 1935 the track was accredited three years later by AAA and held races until the United States' entry into World War II in 1941. Racing continued following the war until 1989.

Hours before the 1959 NASCAR race, the grandstands burned to the ground and 8000 fans in attendance watched the race from the ground.^[3] In the 1960 NASCAR race, Emanuel Zervakis was disqualified for his fuel tank being too large after winning the race.^[4]

During the 60's the track was one of the venues Dale Earnhardt raced at very early in his career.

As of 2022 the track is abandoned but still partially intact, with all of the track surface in turns 3 and 4 turning into grass and turns 1 and 2 being slightly off from the original track.^[2]

NASCAR results

Cup Series Results


Race Number	Winner	Manufacturer	Average Speed (mph)
1951-30	Fonty Flock	Oldsmobile	Unknown
1952-29	Herb Thomas	Hudson	35.398
1953-18	Fonty Flock	Hudson	53.803
1953-34	Herb Thomas	Hudson	56.022
1954-11	Buck Baker	Oldsmobile	52.279
1956-08	Herb Thomas	Chevrolet	46.287
1956-56	Buck Baker	Chrysler	50.597
1957-06	Ralph Moody	Ford	55.079
1958-05	Lee Petty	Oldsmobile	48.459
1959-07	Junior Johnson	Ford	50.300
1959-22	Junior Johnson	Ford	58.065
1960-12	Joe Weatherly	Ford	55.113

Reference^[5]

Convertible Results


Race Number	Winner	Manufacturer	Average Speed (mph)
1956-21	Curtis Turner	Ford	54.987
1957-09	Joe Weatherly	Ford	55.325
1957-35	Billy Myers	Ford	54.987
1958-08	Curtis Turner	Ford	47.362
1958-18	Bob Welborn	Chevrolet	45.196

Reference^[6]

References

↑ "WILSON SPEEDWAY". speedwayandroadracehistory. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
1 2 Wood, Perry Allen (October 16, 2012). Silent Speedways of the Carolinas: The Grand National Histories of 29 Former Tracks. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0261-5.
↑ Boland, Marc. "NASCAR History: The Good Old Days, Pennsylvania Style". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
↑ Meredith, Luke (June 19, 2019). "NASCAR denies Ross Chastain's appeal over Sunday's post-race disqualification at Iowa Speedway". Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
↑ "Tracks". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
↑ "Tracks". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 7, 2022.

NASCAR Cup Series race venues

Current (2026)

Short track	Bowman Gray (NC) Martinsville Bristol North Wilkesboro Iowa Richmond
Mile oval	Phoenix Dover (NC) New Hampshire
Intermediate oval	Atlanta Las Vegas Homestead Darlington Texas Kansas Charlotte (Oval) Nashville Gateway Chicagoland
Superspeedway	Daytona (Oval) Talladega Michigan Pocono Indianapolis (Oval)
Road courses	Austin Sonoma Watkins Glen Charlotte (Roval)
Street circuit	San Diego

Former

Short track	Air Base Airborne Albany-Saratoga Altamont-Schenectady Ascot Park Asheville-Weaverville Augusta (Oval) Beltsville Birmingham Bloomsburg Boyd's Canfield Carrell Central City Champion Chisholm Civic Charlotte Speedway Cleveland County Coastal Columbia Columbus Concord Corbin Davenport Dayton Dixie Dog Track Dominion Fonda Forsyth County Fort Miami Funk's/Winchester Gamecock Gastonia Golden Gate Grand Rapids Greensboro Greenville-Pickens Hamburg Harris Harnett Hayloft Heidelberg Hickory Huntsville Islip Jacksonville Jefferson Kingsport Lakeview Langley (VA) Lincoln Lincoln City Los Angeles Coliseum (NC) Madison McCormick Field Meyer Middle Georgia Montgomery Monroe County (MI) Monroe County (NY) Morristown Myrtle Beach Nashville Fairgrounds New Asheville Newberry Oakland Occoneechee Old Bridge Oxford Plains Palm Beach Pensacola Piedmont Interstate Powell Princess Anne Rapid Valley Reading Savannah Shangri-La Smoky Mountain Soldier Field South Boston Southern States Southside Speedway Park Starlite Stateline Tar Heel Thompson Toronto Tri-City Tucson Valdosta 75 Vernon Wall Stadium West Virginia Williams Grove Willow Springs (Oval) Wilson
Mile oval	Arizona State Bainbridge Fairgrounds Bay Meadows California State Lakewood Langhorne Las Vegas Park Michigan State Raleigh Rockingham Syracuse
Intermediate oval	Kentucky Marchbanks Memphis-Arkansas Trenton
Superspeedway	Auto Club Ontario Texas World
Road courses	Augusta (Road Course) Bridgehampton Daytona (Road Course) Indianapolis (Road Course) Mexico City Riverside Road America Willow Springs (Road Course)
Street circuit	Bremerton Chicago Daytona Beach Linden Montgomery Air Base Titusville

Cup Series Results

Convertible Results

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