Raleigh Speedway (site) (Raleigh, North Carolina)

USA / North Carolina / Raleigh / Raleigh, North Carolina
 NASCAR, race track -dont use, historical layer / disappeared object

Raleigh Speedway (site). Location of NASCAR’s second superspeedway, the first being Darlington International Raceway. 1.0 Mile paved oval opened 1952. Track was a true oval, not egg or “D” shaped. Track closed in early 1960s. Demolished in 1967.

Scene of one of the more legendary anecdotes of NASCAR’s wild and wooly early years. During the 1953 season driver Tim Flock, as a publicity stunt, raced with a monkey strapped into his car for several races. Jocko Flocko, as the monkey was known, had his own driver suit, helmet, and a seat attached to the interior of the car. May 30, 1953, during the race at this track, Flock was leading late in the race when Jocko somehow got loose and began to thrash about wildly in the car. Flock was forced to pit in order to eject the berserk monkey out of the car. Rejoining the race, he was unable to make up the lost ground, eventually finishing third to his brother Fonty, and Herb Thomas.

History does not record the post-race fate of Jocko….

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Flock

www.timflock.com/jocko.htm
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   35°49'34"N   78°36'37"W

Comments

This article was last modified 12 years ago