By Sidney Cruze

• 1: Introduction
• 2: History of the Speedway
• 3: The Speedway Closes
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The speedway closes

These Sunday NASCAR races were not popular with everyone in Hillsborough, and a group of citizens organized to stop them. They were successful, and on September 15, 1968, the black-and-white checkered flag fell for the last time behind Richard Petty. Tracks that were longer, paved, and locally supported replaced the racecourse, known since 1954 as the Orange Speedway.

Thirty years later, the speedway attracted the attention of Preservation North Carolina, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting North Carolina’s historic sites, and Richard Jenrette, the preservationist and founding partner of the Wall Street brokerage firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. Jenrette’s Classical American Homes Preservation Trust (CAHPT) owns Ayr Mount, a restored 1815 Federal period plantation that sits across the Eno River from the speedway.

In 1997, Preservation North Carolina bought the NASCAR site from the estates of France and Stanley with funding from the James M. Johnston Trust and Jenrette’s Classical Preservation Trust, which took title to the land and placed it under conservation easements that will protect it from future development.

People visiting the speedway today will find sycamore trees growing 25 feet tall amidst the rusted tin walls that once housed the concession stand and ticket booth. Blackberry brambles cover the concrete stadium seats, and wildflowers bloom along the well-worn track. Walking to the river, they can get a glimpse of the fence “Red” and his friends climbed over to get into the races.

Bateman’s hair is silver now, and he chuckles when he thinks back to those carefree days. For him, working as a trail steward is coming full circle. “When I was a boy, the Exchange Club ran the track’s concession stand. Now I’m the president of the Exchange Club.”

He’s thrilled the track is being preserved. “Since we opened the trail I’ve been surprised by the number of people coming out to walk it. And I never thought things would grow like this.” He looks up, and the bill of his maroon HOST baseball cap points to the sky. “It’s like the trees have been here forever.”

Sidney Cruze is a freelance writer with an interest in North Carolina’s historic places. She lives in Durham.