Charlotte Motor SpeedwayWhere fans finish first!
Charlotte Motor Speedway Races:
Charlotte Motor Speedway was built in 1959 by its current owner and chairman, O.Bruton Smith, alongside stock car racer Curtis Turner. The speedway has been thrilling NASCAR fans for half a century. From the first World 600 in 1960 to its ongoing improvements as a racetrack, Charlotte is one of the elder statesmen in the world of NASCAR racing. Despite its brush with bankruptcy and reorganization through Chapter 11 just one year after the inaugural World 600 race, the speedway showed the same fighting spirit as its two owners and came back stronger than ever. Smith saw that the racetrack needed improvement to avoid the same fate again. So he hired General Manager, H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, and the race track began to take shape into its existing layout. Perhaps the real difference with Charlotte, and one of the reasons the track saw such excellent ticket sales shortly after almost going out of business, is that all the improvements were done to make the experience even better for the fans, and not just as a corporate way to make more money. A new grandstand and concession stands as well as an increased number of restrooms were the order of the day, and to this day the Charlotte speedway continues to evolve.
In fact, on race day itself, the 180,000 attending fans turn the speedway into the 4th largest city in North Carolina, beat only by Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh. The track itself isn’t the biggest in NASCAR, coming in at more than a mile shorter in length than the Talladega Superspeedway, but that doesn’t mean that it's less impressive – far from it. Measuring 1.5 miles in total, the front stretch of the track comes in at 1,980 feet, with an opposing back stretch of exactly 1,500 feet. The corners at both ends of the track have a banking of 24 degrees, while the front and back straights are banked of 5 degrees, making for a continuously challenging race. The actual road on the inner perimeter is named after Darrell Waltrip, who not only is a three-time Cup Series champion, but has also won the Coca Cola 600 race a total of five times.
For example, in 1984 40 condominiums were built above turn one of the racetrack, and this made Charlotte the first racetrack track to offer full, everyday living opportunities all year at a racetrack (12 more condos were built in 1991). Also a state-of-the-art lighting system was installed a year later in 1992, at a cost of a cool $1.7 million. These lights gave Charlotte the distinction of being the first superspeedway to allow nighttime racing, which offered a whole new experience for both driver and fan. You can even drive your own car an the track with a $25 donation to the
Speedway Children's Charities
during the Souvenir and Race Ticket Blowout every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
The track changes so much from day to night that unless the crew chiefs keep up with the changes on the track the cars that are good during the daylight are usually junk by the end of the night. Charlotte continues to draw crowds from the non-racing fraternity due to its willingness to look outside the sport when it comes to entertainment, including hosting the premiere of the movie 'Cars' as well as the stars of the blockbuster movie “Transformers” making an appearance (and by the stars, that’s the cars and NOT the actors!). By putting the fans first Charlotte Motor Speedway continues to grow, and even if it’s not the biggest or best track in NASCAR racing today, there’s no doubting that it’s one of the most popular, and will continue to innovate when it comes to both racing and entertainment.
Have You Ever Been To Charlotte Motor Speedway?
Do you have a great picture from a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway? A great story? An interesting fact? A tip? Anything! Return from Charlotte Motor Speedway to Speedway Guide
|
