Orange County Fair Speedway hosts Nostalgia Night with former racers

Orange County Fair Speedway turned June 7 into a reunion of Middletown racing memory, with upwards of 70 former Orange County competitors expected to return for the 20th Annual Doug Dulgarian’s Nostalgia Night. The event paired old names and old stories with a full night of Big Series 3 racing, keeping the focus on both the track’s history and its present-day crowd.

The Speedway opened the pits, stands and drive-in at 2 p.m., gave fans an autograph window from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., put race cars on the track at 4:45 p.m. and set the first race for 6 p.m. Organizers said the Modified feature would run first after qualifying, a move meant to keep the show moving on a Sunday night while school was still in session.

The guest list underscored why Nostalgia Night still draws attention in Orange County. Former competitors and car owners such as Wayne Reutimann, Larry Brolsma and Bud Christman were among those expected to take part, giving longtime fans a chance to reconnect with drivers whose names helped shape the Speedway’s local identity. The autograph session was built as much for families and younger fans as for the older crowd that remembers the track’s earlier eras.

The race card kept the evening from becoming only a ceremonial gathering. DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds, Tri-State Dry Wall Sportsman and Interstate Batteries of Southern New York Street Stocks were all on the program, with eight-lap qualifying races in Modifieds and Sportsman, six-lap Street Stock qualifiers and feature races set for 30 laps in Modifieds, 20 laps in Sportsman and 15 laps in Street Stocks. Escape Power Sports presented the event.

For Orange County Fair Speedway, the night sat inside a much longer run of racing tradition. The track said racing returned for its 107th consecutive year in 2026, while its history page says weekly stock car racing began there on April 16, 1950, and stock car racing officially began on September 18, 1948. Admission for the June 7 program was set at $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $5 for children 12 and under, with pit passes at $35, drive-in parking at $5 and grounds parking free. In Middletown, Nostalgia Night showed that the Speedway still works as a living archive, not just a place to watch cars go fast.