Explore this Long Abandoned NASCAR Track near Allentown, Pennsylvania
Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley near Allentown was once a thriving and busy NASCAR track that held 45,000 NASCAR fans. Now, 16 years after the track closed it sits abandoned with only the history of what it once was.
The Nazareth Speedway started out as a horse track back in the 1850s and in the early 1900s was turned into a small dirt track. As dirt track racing got popular, and NASCAR grew and grew, the track then became a paved track in 1987. The track is linked to some of NASCAR's biggest names including Mario and Michael Andretti's who both won a few races at the speedway.
In late 2015 the speedway was purchased by Raceway Properties LLC under David Jaindi and has slowly been decaying and vanishing since the purchase. There are no plans to revitalize the track to its once glory because of the non-compete clause.
As part of the offer, there is a non-compete clause that states that racing remains banned from returning to the property, mainly due to the proximity to Pocono Raceway.
Watching the video of the explores go from building to building and seeing what the track has now become is pretty sad. To know that this was once a popular place for famous NASCAR drivers to cross the finish line now sit and "rust" away from it is just a sad part of NASCAR history.
The track has been through many renovations, and the final time it was renovated was back in 1997 when the track got a new retaining wall, catch fence, and new grandstands. The grandstands ahs been demolished and no longer exist, but you can see where they once stood in the video above and the pictures below. You can still see the track because it is forever immortalized in several EA Sports video games.