"The House of Power" | |
---|---|
Location | Middletown, New York, at 239 Wisner Avenue, Middletown, New York 10940, United States[1] |
Time zone | EST (UTC−05:00) / EDT (UTC−04:00)) |
Coordinates | 41°26′52″N 74°23′36″W / 41.44778°N 74.39333°W |
Capacity | 8,000 |
Owner | Mike Gurda IV[2] |
Operator | Independent |
Broke ground | 1857 - For Horse Racing |
Opened | August 16, 1919 - First Auto Race[3] |
Construction cost | Unknown |
Architect | Unknown |
Former names | Ogden Tract, Harry Clay Oval, Victory Speedway |
Major events | Eastern States 200 Eastern States 100 Hard Clay Open[4] Street Stock Shootout[5] |
Website | http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/index.html |
Oval | |
Surface | Dirt |
Length | 0.625 miles (1.006 km) |
Turns | 4 |
Banking | Semi-Banked |
Race lap record | 0:16.083 (139.899 MPH)[6] (Joey Saldana, Joey Saldana Racing, September 24th, 2008, WoO Sprint Car) |
Orange County Fair Speedway is a 0.625 mi (1.006 km) dirt oval speedway in Middletown, Orange County, New York.[7] The facility used to hold weekly stock car races and demolition derbies during the summer months. The track was built in 1857 for horse racing at the Orange County Fair and staged its first automobile race on August 16, 1919. The fair began as an agricultural exhibit in 1843 and was permanently located in the Wallkill–Middletown area in 1857. The speedway is located at 239 Wisner Avenue in Middletown on land which was known as The Ogden Tract in the mid-1850s. It was originally a half-mile horse racing track known as the Harry Clay Oval, named after a race horse that was famous at that time. Over the years, the track was widened and lengthened to a true 5/8-mile race track.