The first to be honored is the Occoneechee Speedway Group, located near Hillsborough, N. C.. Occoneechee, which was entered in National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 2002 opened in 1948 and a year later ran the third event ever staged under a new sanctioning body which was known then and is still known as NASCAR. Famed driver, Bob Flock won the first sanctioned race on the demanding 9/10-mile dirt oval, driving a 1948 Oldsmobile 88 taking the checkered flag before 17,500 excited fans and averaged 76.8 miles per hour. His take home pay was $2,000.

The facility operated until 1968 and attracted every driver in NASCAR and not one driver ever said that Occonneechee wasn't the roughest, toughest track they had ever competed on. Legend drivers can talk for hours about the competition, but mainly about the track itself.

Richard Petty brought down the curtain on competitive racing by winning the final event at the facility that thought the 20 years of operation attracted such name drivers as Bill Blair, Jimmie Lewallen, Louise Smith, Curtis Turner, Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Lee Petty and of course, his son Richard.

In 1997, a group of historic preservationists arranged the acquisition of the speedway property and the inaugural celebration of the Automobile Car Show and Racers' Reunion have been hosted by the Historic Speedway Group since 2007. Thousands of fans flock into neighboring towns looking for motel rooms each year so they can take part in the three-day affair that attracts dozens of drivers who competed on the demanding track and hundreds of restored race cars from the '49 through '68 era. Fans are given an opportunity to actually drive on the same surface in which their heroes for days gone by actually bumped and banged one another.

Many of the group are very active in charitable projects throughout the region.

Below is listed the names of people who will be honored as well as the people presenting the awards:

Pioneer In Racing…….Marion Cox…..Presented by Haskell Willingham

Media….Tom Higgins …Presented by Humpy Wheeler

Red Vogt Mechanics and Engineering….Waddell Wilson…Presented by Chocolate Myers.

Fireball Roberts Hard Charger…Dave Marcis….Presented by Rex White

Tim Flock Drivers….Bill Blair….Presented by Francis Flock

Raymond Parks….Freddy Smith….Presented by Steve Waid.

Short Track Drivers Achievement (In memory of Clifford & Davey Allison)..Dick Trickle….Presented by Don Miller.

Woman In Racing….Nina Cox….Presented by Morgan Shepherd.

Alan Kulwicki….Buck Simmons….Presented by Ozzie Altman.

Smokey Yunick Achievement….Roy Hendrick….Presented by Bill Mangum