NASCAR History: Exploring the Now Derelict Nazareth Speedway Once Home to Mario Andretti

What makes a motorsport fan go? The atmosphere, the smells, the speeds, the noise. All of this is held together within the confines of what racing fans call home; a race track. Today, NASCAR fans call Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte, and Indianapolis home and it is impossible to imagine these tracks in any other way than living, breathing cathedrals of speed. Once upon a time, the Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania was the same. Now, it isn’t.

Imagine the setting of a high school — once a thriving colony of memories, thrills, and pleasure — vacant, run-down, and dilapidated. It instantly triggers bittersweet feelings. That is what fans who witnessed the glory of Nazareth in its heyday might feel when they learn what the track looks like today, none more so than Mario Andretti, who called this track home.

The track opened its doors in the early 1900s as a horse-racing venue. By the 1960s, it had started hosting dirt races. For Andretti, this is where he enjoyed much success on dirt. Nazareth was also the closest track he could call home on account of being stationed in Pennsylvania. That said, financial issues leading up to bankruptcy led to the track’s closure in the early 1970s.

Nazareth’s second coming came in 1986 under the hands of Roger Penske, chairman of the Penske Corporation, who revamped the layout and got it up and running again. Thus, the 1-1/8th mile oval track that became a NASCAR staple was born. It seemed like Nazareth was going to follow the footsteps of the great American racing legacy tracks but that form was unfortunately short-lived.

Political and financial issues kept plaguing the track. CART (today’s IndyCar), dropped the track from its calendar in 2002. And while NASCAR kept racing at Nazareth, they followed suit and abandoned it two years later. Since 2004, Nazareth was slowly forgotten.

Today, the Nazareth Speedway is not even a distant memory of its former self. Walking into the landscape, it is very hard to imagine it housed motorsport fans and allowed legends like Andretti to display their skills.

A place that once was adorned with fans, chants, banners, and speed now stands deserted with weeds, wildlife, and arsonists. This fall from grace was witnessed by Andretti — fifteen years after Nazareth’s last hurrah.

In 2019, Jim Ayello re-visited the track with Andretti. He aptly encapsulated the current state of the facility. He wrote for IndyStar, “They knew Mario and I were visiting their dilapidated property.”

“The night before the scheduled visit, a couple of kids started a fire inside the Nazareth Speedway property – news both dismaying and heartening; barring some sort of arson investigation, I figure we can probably slip inside the same way the kids did,” he added.

Why is the Nazareth Speedway so special for Andretti?

When Andretti visited Nazareth he reminisced about what made the track so special for him and his family. The Andretti family has strong roots in Pennsylvania, making the venue Andretti’s home race. But the track also played a very special part in the birth of his daughter, Barbie in 1969.

After his Indy 500 win in ’69, Andretti returned to Nazareth to race on dirt. “My wife was pregnant with my daughter, Barbie but she wasn’t due for two weeks. The developments, the parade [all of it] brought about the birth of Barbie right after the race and I had won the race here,” narrated Andretti.

He added, “The beautiful thing is I won here, my son, Michael won a couple of times you know after it was repaved so we such fond, fond memories of this place. [But] it’s quite sad now obviously looking at how dilapidated this property is.” 

Looking back into NASCAR history, Nazareth will always remain immortal. However, given the current state of the premises, it is understood that it will never return to its glory days.