An Introduction to the Jacksonville International Speedway - North Carolina

Author: Jesse Rucinski

Jul 04, 2023

I am almost embarrassed to say that I didn’t know about this track until many years after I arrived here in Jacksonville back in 2007. I was always in the loop when it came to the many tracks in my surrounding area that are still running and operating today. Including the New River All American Speedway, the Coastal Plains Dragway at the same facility, and the Carteret County Speedway which is just a stone’s throw down the road in Swansboro. It turns out that the Jacksonville International Speedway is here, abandoned, rarely discussed in any conversations I’m a part of, and has an amazing history and some big names that have come through and raced. This is the facility and history that we will be discussing in the coming weeks on both the Ghost Speedways podcast and here on the Substack as well.

The history of the track was not a long one. It was only open from 1956 through 1965 but it held many races through that time including two NASCAR Grand National races in 1957 and 1964. We saw many other divisions race on the track including the Late Models, Modified, and the NASCAR Convertible Series as well. Names of winners include greats like Ralph Earnhardt, Ned Jarrett, and Buck Baker to name a few of them.

It is a track that we all need to explore more, and I hope you follow along on the journey through the history of the Jacksonville International Speedway. Information on the aforementioned New River and Carteret County Speedways is below as well as the YouTube spots for the first two episodes of the podcast.