Orange County Fair Speedway Stars Rank their 10 Most Prestigious Races

Orange County Fair Speedway (OCFS) celebrated its 100th year of racing during its 2019 season. In a sport where many of our local dirt tracks have closed for business, OCFS has had a resurgence, in large part to Chris Larsen of Halmar International and a very loyal fan base. Instead of closing up shop, the employees of OCFS have made many major improvements to it facility.

Recently Jeff Gluck, Racing Reporter for The Athletic, listed his top 10 most prestigious races in the United States. Needless to say, his list generated a ton of opinions. After reading Jeff's piece I thought it'd be interesting to ask some of the drivers and staff at our local dirt track what their top 10 prestigious races would be. Note the lack of NASCAR venues on the list.

Thanks to Danny Creeden, Peter Scotter Van Noordt, Corey Cormier, Dom Roselli, Mike Traverse,Pat Reiser, Allison Ricci, Danny DC Carlough, Daniel Morgiewicz Jr., and Tyler Boniface for helping me put this list together.

DRIVER/STAFF Poll

1) Chilli Bowl

2) 200 at The Mile (Includes Oswego and Syracuse)

3) Knoxville Nationals

4) Eldora (Dream and 100)

5) 76'er at Grandview

6) Eastern States Weekend

7) Centennial Race (OCFS)

8) Volusia Speedway

9) Fonda 200

10) Firecracker - New Egypt

I found it somewhat surprising that no NASCAR or INDY car race made the top 10. The Daytona 500 and the races at Talladega did capture votes but clearly the favorites of the Saturday Night racing bunch was dirt races.

You can visit the Athletic website for Jeff Glucks list at https://theathletic.com/ . In the meantime here's my list of the top 10 most prestigious races in the United States.

1) Daytona 500

2) Indy 500

3) Southern 500

4) Coca Cola 600

5) Go Bowling at The Glen

6) Easter States Weekend (OCFS)

7) NASCAR Championship Race (Formerly Homestead, 2020 Phoenix)

8) Martinsville (Night Race)

9) Food City 500 (Bristol)

10) Chilli Bowl

Thanks for reading. Listen to the NASCAR Report on The Frank Truatt Morning Show on WTBQ, 1110am, 93.5fm or online at WTBQ.com. Follow me on twitter @Jimlaplante.