Orange County Fair Speedway

Orange County Fair Speedway is one of the most historic tracks on the east coast. It has the longest-running modified race in the world, as the Eastern States 200 is approaching its 50th anniversary of the annual event. It has a great fair atmosphere, highlighted by the fan-group called "Buzzie's Boys" which are found in the reserved section of the grandstands, and are usually decked out in memorabilia dating back to the 1970s when their idol, Buzzie Reutimann, was in his prime.

Being that Orange County is an old facility, it needs some work done to the track. The bleachers are in pretty good shape, but could use some fresh paint. Most of the concession stands are in good shape, as is the infamous "31st Lap" Bar. The main thing is that the track needs new walls put up around the speedway. The speedway's walls appear to be deteriorating which gives the track a run-down look. There are also some big holes in the pit area that could be filled. The current owners of the track have began performing some upgrades around the facility. All in all, I enjoy the facility, and especially the track food, as they have some of the best gyro sandwiches I've ever tasted. The fair-type set up with the concession stands and bar gives a great place for race fans to be hanging out all night and talking about racing. Orange County is one of the best tracks to socialize and make new friends.

The track features around 35 modifieds for a weekly event, but sees the car count soar to the 60s for some of their bigger events throughout the year. The best place to sit is in general admission session towards where the cars come off of turn four. The pits are also located in the infield, so sitting high in the bleachers is a necessity. As long as you sit high at the track, all the views are very cool. While it's not preferred for an entire race, be sure to check out the turn one bleachers for a qualifying race at some point during the night. You don't realize how fast the guys are going until you sit in those stands and the field of cars are heading right for you. You can also see the stress the cars are put through as the cars are thrown into the turn.

My favorite memory of the race happened in the 2007 Eastern States 200. Jeff Heotzler has long been considered one of the top drivers at Orange County, and has won multiple track championships, but had never won the big end of the season race, the Eastern States 200. Heotzler actually failed to qualify for the event, but had received a guaranteed starting spot for winning the modified track championship in 2007 at Orange County. Heotzler was forced to use his guaranteed spot to even race in the event, which meant he was starting in 45th starting spot for the race. The race was also the finale for the big block modified premier touring series, the Super Dirt Series, and saw Tim Fuller leading points by a comfortable margin over Brett Hearn. Fuller just needed to finish in the top-24 to collect the series championship. With around 50 laps left, Fuller blew his engine, a large pile-up early in the race and attrition credited Fuller with a 29th place finish. Hearn had to finish in the top-6 to win the title. As the race approached the Jeff Heotzler found himself in contention to win the race for the first time in his career after starting in last place, he found himself in second place with three laps to go. Billy Decker was leading the race, but, as the field headed down the backstretch, Decker ran out of gas, giving Jeff Heotzler the lead and eventually the race win after not qualifying for the event. Brett Hearn ended up finishing third in the race and collected the Super Dirt Series championship.