The track was founded on December 27, 1951, when Charlie Combs broke ground on a planned 0.5-mile dirt oval near U.S. Route 70. Hickory Speedway held its first race on May 18, 1952, with Gwyn Staley winning before a crowd of 4,500. Staley also won the facility's first night race after lights were installed later that summer. The inaugural NASCAR Grand National Series race — the forerunner of today's Cup Series — was held at Hickory on May 16, 1953, with Tim Flock taking the victory. In 1956, the track was remeasured and shortened to 0.4 miles, and in 1960 the turns were reconfigured to increase banking.
Combs sold his controlling interest to Grafton Burgess in 1959. During the early 1960s Burgess oversaw two rounds of facility improvements, including upgraded fan amenities, an air-conditioned media center, concrete retaining walls, and guardrails. In 1967 Burgess sold the speedway to Charlotte real estate developers Bill Edwards and Ed Griffin for approximately $144,000.
Edwards and Griffin announced plans to pave the track in July 1967, and the first paved race was held on August 12 of that year. Shortly after paving, Ned Jarrett — the former NASCAR champion and Hickory native — was appointed general manager, a post he held until 1976. In 1970 the track was again remeasured and shortened to its current configuration of 0.363 miles. The following year, 1971, saw the final NASCAR Cup Series race at Hickory; NASCAR removed events shorter than 250 miles from its premier series schedule beginning in 1972.
On August 14, 1977, driver Bobby Isaac suffered a fatal heart attack during a race, attributable to heat exhaustion — the track's first fatality.
The facility changed hands several times through the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1979 a group of four businessmen including track broadcaster Hal Hamrick purchased the speedway. By 1982 Newbern Fleming had bought out his partners and became sole owner. Fleming sold in 1986 when car dealership owner Benny Yount purchased the track for approximately $1,000,000. Yount immediately launched a $100,000 renovation program covering fan amenities, a press and VIP booth, and new concrete retaining barriers.
In November 1988, Yount officially renamed the facility Hickory Motor Speedway, with Bob Friedman appointed as general manager. A major renovation in early 1991 added a permanent infield road course layout and the first complete repave of the asphalt surface. The repave suffered early problems — severe wear in turns three and four prompted a second repave of those sections — and the track was completely repaved again in 1992 after the surface failed during a Busch Series event.
In late 1997 Yount sold the operating lease to South Carolina developer John Huffman. The NASCAR Busch Series departed the facility after the 1998 season, and in early 2000 the speedway ended its long-standing NASCAR sanction in favor of the American Racing Association, closing a 49-year partnership. Huffman relinquished the lease in 2001 and Yount regained control before HMS employees Sherry Clifton and Debbie Whitworth purchased the lease days later. The track regained its NASCAR sanction in January 2002. Kevin Piercy, the track's tire distributor, became promoter in 2008 and continues in that role.
In its current form, Hickory Motor Speedway measures 0.363 miles with 14 degrees of banking in turns one and two, 12 degrees in turns three and four, and 8 degrees on the straightaways. The facility seats approximately 9,600 spectators and accommodates a further 3,600 standing. It is accessible via Interstate 40 and sits alongside U.S. Route 70 in Newton, North Carolina.
Hickory Motor Speedway hosted NASCAR Cup Series events from 1953 through 1971 and Busch Series races from 1982 through 1998. The track earned a reputation as a training ground for NASCAR talent, with many drivers developing their skills on its tight asphalt oval before graduating to larger venues. In 1972 the facility served as a filming location for the movie The Last American Hero, a dramatized account of the life of racing driver and team owner Junior Johnson, with scenes captured during a NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series race on September 16, 1972, and a supplemental shoot the following month.
Today the speedway operates primarily as a hub for regional NASCAR-sanctioned racing. The ARCA Menards Series East added a 150-lap race at Hickory to its 2026 schedule, marking a return of higher-profile national touring competition to the track. In 2023, the facility received $568,264 in North Carolina state COVID-19 relief funds, used to renovate bathrooms and repave the infield pit area.
Hickory Motor Speedway stands as one of the oldest continuously operating short tracks in the southeastern United States. Its seven decades of history encompass the dirt-track origins of NASCAR, the golden era of short-track Grand National racing, and the evolution of regional motorsport in the Carolinas. Drivers including Tim Flock, Ned Jarrett, Richard Petty, and Bobby Allison all competed on the half-mile and later the 0.363-mile oval that shaped the early culture of American stock car racing.