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NPS Form 10 -900 -a OMB Approval No. 1024 -0018 (8.86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Conti nuatic ,Sheet Occoneechee Speedway Orange County, N.C. Section number 8 Page 19 the twenty -eight cars in contention. The field included Sara Christian, an early female NASCAR driver.52 For the 1950 season, the Strictly Stock division became the NASCAR Grand National Circuit. Of the 1950 season, the local press proclaimed, "the speed demons will attempt to break the Flock monopoly on races at the famous mile speedway." The Flock brothers— Fonty, Bob and Tim — dominated the top events held at Occoneechee in the first few seasons.53 The highlights of the August 13, .1950 race at Occoneechee were twenty- one - year -old Fireball Roberts' first victory and the entry of Louise Smith of Greenville, South Carolina, who drove a brand new Nash Ambassador. At the October 29 race later that year, Lee Petty of Greensboro won the two hundred mile race and eventually went on to become one of NASCAR's most successful drivers. Petty, the progenitor of auto racing's most famous family, was the father of legend Richard Petty, grandfather to 'champion driver Kyle Petty and great - grandfather to Adam Petty, who before he was killed during a practice run in New Hampshire, was the first fourth generation professional athlete in the United States. 54 The ownership and name of the speedway underwent a change in the early 1950s. On July 25, 1952 Orange Speedway, Inc. formed with Bill France, Sr. as president, Ann France as secretary - treasurer and Enoch Staley as vice - president. The other three original owners — Powell, Dawson and Lowe —were no longer associated with the track. In January 1953, Ann France filed an affidavit with the North Carolina Department of State to dissolve Hillsboro Speedway, Inc. Beginning in 1954, the racing complex was known as Orange Speedway. 55 After the 1955 season, the Orange Speedway was shortened from one mile to nine - tenths of a mile in length. While historian Pete Daniel asserts that respectable people condemned racing and the behavior that often accompanied it Orange Speedway is one of only a few early NASCAR track that met with organized protests in the 1950s. Racing proved popular with many local residents, but others saw the sport in a less positive light and expressed those feelings openly. In April 1956, 52 Chengalis; Matt McLaughlin, "Occoneechee Speedway, Fifty Years of NASCAR Racing," SpeedFX.com, April 4, 2001, < www.st)eedfK.com/ history /050798hillsboro.shtml >. 53 The News of Orange County, June 15, 1950. 54 Matt McLaughlin, "Tales from Days of Yore: Fifty Years of NASCAR Racing," SpeedFX.com, July 9, 2001, <http: // www.sneedfx.com /history/050798hillsboro.shtml >. 55 Orange County Records of Incorporation, Book 3, page 307 -312 orange County Register of Deeds, Hillsborough, North Carolina.