The speedway was built by a group of Philadelphia racing enthusiasts organised as the National Motor Racing Association. Originally known as the New Philadelphia Speedway and later the Philadelphia Speedway, it was scheduled to open on May 31, 1926, but rain delayed proceedings by two weeks. The first race was held on June 12, 1926, with Freddie Winnai qualifying in 42.40 seconds — a new world record for a one-mile track — and then winning the 50-lap main event. The NMRA operated Langhorne through the 1929 season, during which difficulties with track preparation, management disputes, and poor attendance brought the speedway near bankruptcy.
In 1930, noted promoter Ralph "Pappy" Hankinson took over and brought AAA Championship races to the circuit, establishing Langhorne's place in the national calendar. Between 1941 and the end of the 1942 season, ownership passed to barnstorming performer Earl "Lucky" Teter, who also ran thrill shows at the track; Teter was killed in a stunt accident on July 5, 1942. John Babcock held the property from 1946 to 1950, before Irv Fried and Al Gerber took over from 1951 onwards.
The layout was a near-perfect circle measuring 0.99 miles, entirely flat and without banking. Turn 2 earned the nickname "Puke Hollow" for the deep ruts it developed, which subjected drivers to violent jostling even in period racing cars. The continuous-radius design offered no defined back straight and kept speeds perpetually oscillating through cornering loads, wearing heavily on both machinery and drivers. These conditions made Langhorne unusual among American ovals of its era: it demanded constant concentration rather than the alternating straight-and-corner rhythm of conventional ovals.
Under AAA sanction, Langhorne attracted the leading Championship Car drivers of the postwar era. Duke Nalon, Rex Mays, Bill Holland, and Tony Bettenhausen all won AAA Championship events at the circuit. Jimmy Bryan won twice under AAA sanction, adding Langhorne to a list of victories that established him among the premier oval racers of his generation.
After the AAA retired from racing promotion in 1955 and USAC assumed control of American Championship racing, Langhorne continued as a major USAC venue. A.J. Foyt dominated the USAC era at Langhorne, winning four consecutive races between 1961 and 1964. Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Gordon Johncock, Al Unser, Lloyd Ruby, and Eddie Sachs were among the other USAC winners at the circuit.
Langhorne featured prominently in NASCAR's early years and hosted at least one NASCAR Grand National race every season from 1949 to 1957. Grand National winners at the circuit included Curtis Turner (twice), Lee Petty, Herb Thomas, Dick Rathmann (three times), Tim Flock (twice), Buck Baker, Paul Goldsmith, and Fireball Roberts.
The Langhorne National Open ran as the circuit's signature late-season event from 1951 through to the final meeting in 1971. Dutch Hoag won the National Open five times and was the only driver to win at Langhorne on both the original dirt surface and the later paved configuration. The final race in the event's history, held on October 17, 1971, was won by Roger Treichler.
In 1965 the track was reshaped into a D-configuration and its surface paved over, substantially altering the character it had maintained through its dirt-surface decades. Suburban expansion — particularly the growth of Levittown — progressively reduced local tolerance for the facility. The property was sold to mall developers in 1967, but Langhorne continued to operate for five additional seasons before its final event on October 17, 1971.
Over the course of the circuit's history, 18 drivers, five motorcycle riders, three spectators, and one flagman were killed in incidents at Langhorne. The combination of the near-circular layout, an unforgiving dirt surface, and the absence of meaningful run-off made it one of the most dangerous venues in American racing. After closure the facility was demolished and the site redeveloped; it is now occupied by a Sam's Club, a Restaurant Depot warehouse, and a CarMax dealership on the land where the pits and grandstands once stood. A Pennsylvania historical marker was designated in 2006 to commemorate the speedway's place in American motorsport history.
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