Charlotte Motor Speedway

35.3516666667-80.6833333333Coordinates: 35° 21′ 6″ N, 80° 41′ 0″ W

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mi (2.414 km) speedway built in 1959 in Concord, North Carolina, north of Charlotte. It was built in the shape of a quad oval with a spectator capacity of 165,000. The infield has room for an additional 50,000 spectators. The speedway hosted the first night races introduced in 1992. It was also the first to offer condominiums for rent. Since 1984, there have been a total of 52 condominiums above the first turn. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, which has its headquarters there. The Speedway is considered NASCAR's home track, as about 90% of all NASCAR teams are based within 50 miles. In February 1999, the Lowe's home improvement chain purchased the naming rights to the track, making it the first in the United States to have a sponsor. In the summer of 2009, it was decided not to renew the naming rights contract, returning the speedway to its old name.

In addition to the main oval, the speedway also has a 2.25 mi (3.621 km) road course and a 0.6 mi (0.966 km) kart track in the infield, a quarter-mile oval consisting of the start-finish straight and pit lane, and a 0.2 mile (0.322 km) oval outside turn 3. On the opposite side of U.S. Highway 29, there has been a 0.4 mi (0.644 km) off-road course since May 2000.

The speedway owes its nickname "The Beast of the Southeast" to turn 4 before the start and finish straight, as drivers frequently make contact with the outer wall here and damage their race cars in the process. Accordingly, two eyes are painted there, looking out for a "victim".

In 2005, the track surface had to be renewed and bumps removed at the same time. Work on pit lane followed in 2006, and the method used here led to significant tire problems at the two annual NASCAR races. The Coca-Cola 600 in late May 2005 ended with 22 yellows and one red flag, which is a NASCAR Cup Series record. At the same time, it was the first race in 25 years to last over five hours. In addition to the tire issues, the resurfacing also resulted in higher speeds.

On a typical race weekend, Concord can hold over 200,000 people. This makes it the third largest city in North Carolina at times.

Events

ARCA

The Automobile Racing Club of America hosts the ARCA Racing Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Over several years, there have been serious accidents either in racing or practice in which several drivers lost their lives. The most recent was Eric Martin of Hixson on October 9, 2002, when he lost control of his car and Deborah Renshaw hit him at 160 mph (257.5 km/h), killing Martin outright. Since this accident, spotters have also been mandatory in all practice sessions.

Indy Racing League

Two Indy Racing League races were held at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 1997 and 1998, won by Buddy Lazier and Kenny Bräck. In 1999, the race was moved to the first weekend in May, making it the last race before the Indianapolis 500. On lap 61, a race car lost a tire in an accident that sent another car into the spectator stands. Three spectators were killed in this accident and eight others were injured. The race was abandoned after 79 of the 208 laps that were originally scheduled. It was the last one the IRL held at the speedway.

This incident, in conjunction with a previous accident in July 1998 at a Champ Car Series race at Michigan International Speedway, in which three spectators were also killed, led to new rules according to which the wheels of the race cars must be additionally secured with tethers in order to avoid such accidents in the future. In addition, new catch fences were introduced which, due to their shape, are intended to keep wreckage from flying into the spectator stands.

After the accident, there was a brief series of bombings at Lowe's hardware stores in North Carolina, injuring three people. Initially, there was speculation that the attacks were connected to the accident at the Speedway. When the bomber George Rocha was arrested, he initially gave this as the reason as well, but confessed some time later that the attacks had nothing to do with the accident and that he was just angry that he had been caught shoplifting.

Indy Racing League Results

* Note: A lap 62 accident involving three cars in turn 4 resulted in debris flying into the grandstands. According to Indy Racing League spokesman Mike King, the grandstands at the apex of Turn 1 were closed, but the grandstands behind the apex were open. The grandstand at the exit of turn 4 was also closed. When more spectators than expected showed up for the race, additional grandstands were opened. One of these was the area in turn 4 where the debris from the accident was thrown. At this point, Buddy Lazier was leading the race. After the pit stops, Greg Ray led before the race was stopped on lap 80 after 79 laps.

Other types of use

The facility is considered one of the busiest sports venues in the US, hosting over 380 events per year. In addition to many races, the speedway also hosts the Food Lion car show twice a year, one of the largest car shows in the US. Many commercials and movies have also been filmed here, including Days of Thunder and Logan Lucky. Furthermore, it is a popular destination for tourists and test track.

On May 26, 2006, the Pixar film Cars premiered at the Speedway on several large screens. At the Food Lion car show in April 2005, a sculpture exhibit of Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs was held simultaneously. This menagerie of garysauri consisted of life-size sculptures assembled from car parts.

Current track records