New Hampshire Motor Speedway
New Hampshire Motor Speedway Races
The New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been called one of the most unusual tracks on the NASCAR Circuit. Some have even claimed it is Martinsville Speedway on drugs. The Speedway is a 1.058 mile oval track that has been having NASCAR races since July of 1990. Originally called the New Hampshire International Speedway the name was changed in January 2008 after Speedway Motorsports bought the track from Bob and Gary Bahre. When the track opened in June of 1990 after nine long months of construction, it was designed as a Multi-Purpose track. There are other types of races held at this track, such as the Loudon Classic Motorcycle Races, the WKA Go-Kart races, and the SCCA Races. It held the Title for being the largest track in New England and now is the largest of any of the Sports Car Circuit. In the July 1990 the first Nationwide Series race was held there. Due to the Nationwide races becoming so popular in the following three years, the NASCAR Cup Series came to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 1993 and Rusty Wallace won the first race, it was the inaugural Slick 50 300
The track has had some bad history as well, on July 7, 2000 Kenny Irwin was the second driver to die in a crash at the track during Cup practice only two months after Adam Petty died in a crash during Nationwide Series practice on May 12, 2000. But in true NASCAR fashion turning tragedy into triumph, the Petty family opened Victory Junction Gang Camp in honor of Adam. Due to these unfortunate accidents, NASCAR decided to run restrictor plates on all of the cars. It was the first track in history besides
Daytona
and
Talladega
to use the plates. However, when
Jeff Burton
won the next race in an uneventful contest with no lead changes, they went back to the original form of racing.
Dale Jarrett spun his car in turn 4 and was sitting sideways on the racetrack while other cars raced backed to the start/finish line putting Jarrett in danger. Drivers who were one or more laps down did this to potentially get a lap back. NASCAR decided to ban racing back to the start finish line when a caution came out and automatically give the first car 1-lap down a free pass back onto the lead lap. The driver who gets the free pass is sometimes referred to as 'The Lucky Dog'. In 2002, the track changed its shape to create more intense banking, and the apron became a paved part of the track. The track is basically flat with 2 to 7 degree variable banking in the turns. The New Hampshire Motor Speedway is not only 1.058 mile oval speedway with 12 degree turns, it is also a 1.6 mile 12 turn road course. There are 91,000 seats, 38 VIP suites, 2 ticket booths, 4 elevators and 26 Concession stands. The New Hampshire Motor Speedway is one of the most gripping fan thrilling tracks on the NASCAR Circuit.
Have Something To Share About New Hampshire Motor Speedway?
Do you have a great picture from a race at New Hampshire? A great story? An interesting fact? A tip? Anything! Return from New Hampshire Motor Speedway to Speedway Guide
|
