Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway
The Beast of the Southeast
1998-2009: Lowe's Motor Speedway

Address: 5555 Concord Parkway South Concord, North Carolina, 28027
Concord , North Carolina , USA
Route type:	permanent race track
Owner:	Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Operator:	Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Architect:	Bruton Smith
Building-costs:	1.25 million US dollars
Start of building:	1959
Opening:	1960
Speedway oval
Quad oval
Route data
Important events:	Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ( Monster Energy Open , Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race , Coca-Cola 600 , Bank of America 500 ) NASCAR Xfinity Series ( Hisense 4K TV 300 , Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina ) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ( North Carolina Education Lottery 200 ) ARCA Racing Series ( General Tire 150 )
Route length:	2.414  km (1.5  mi )
Curve superelevation:	Curves: 24 °, straight lines: 5 °
Audience capacity:	140,000
www.lowesmotorspeedway.com

Coordinates: 35 ° 21 ′ 6 ″  N , 80 ° 41 ′ 0 ″  W.

The Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5  mi (2.414  km ) long 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 people. The infield offers space for an additional 50,000 spectators. The first night races introduced in 1992 were held on the speedway. It was also the first to offer apartments for rent. Since 1984 there have been a total of 52 condominiums above the first curve. The racetrack is owned by Speedway Motorsports , which has its headquarters there. The Speedway is considered NASCAR's home route as around 90% of all NASCAR teams are based within 50 miles. In February 1999, the hardware store chain Lowe's bought the naming rights for the route, making it the first in the USA with a sponsor. In the summer of 2009 it was decided not to renew the contract for the naming rights, whereby the speedway gets its old name again.

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

The speedway owes its nickname “The Beast of the Southeast” to turn 4 in front of the start and finish straight, as drivers often come into contact with the outer wall and damage their racing cars in the process. Correspondingly, two eyes are painted there that look for a “victim”.

In 2005 the pavement had to be renewed and bumps were removed at the same time. Work in the pit lane followed in 2006. The method used here led to significant tire problems at the two annual NASCAR races. The Coca-Cola 600 at the end of May 2005 ended with 22 caution phases and a red flag, which is the record of the NASCAR Cup Series. At the same time, it was the first race in 25 years that lasted over five hours. In addition to the tire problems, the renewal of the surface also led to higher speeds.

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

Events

ARCA

The Automobile Racing Club of America is hosting the ARCA Racing Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Serious accidents occurred over several years, either in the race or during training, in which several drivers lost their lives. The last was Eric Martin of Hixson on October 9, 2002. He lost control of his car and Deborah Renshaw hit him at 160  mph (257.5  km / h ), killing Martin directly. Since this accident, spotters are also required in all training sessions.

Indy Racing League

Two races of the Indy Racing League 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 racing car lost a tire in an accident that was thrown into the stands by another car. Three spectators were killed in this accident and eight others were injured. The race was canceled after 79 of the originally planned 208 laps. It was the last that the IRL held on the speedway.

This incident, in connection with a previous accident in July 1998 during a race of the Champ Car series at Michigan International Speedway , in which three spectators were also killed, led to new rules according to which the wheels of the racing cars must also be secured with tethers, to avoid such accidents in the future. In addition, new safety fences were introduced which, due to their shape, should prevent wreckage from flying into the spectator stands.

Following the accident, there was a brief series of bombings in Lowe's hardware stores in North Carolina that injured three people. At first there was the assumption that the attacks were connected to the accident on the speedway. When assassin George Rocha was arrested, he initially cited this as the reason, but later confessed that the attacks had nothing to do with the accident and that he was just angry that he was caught shoplifting.

Indy Racing League Results

Season	date	Name of the race	winner	chassis	engine
1997	July 26th	VisionAire 500k	Buddy Lazier	Dallara	Oldsmobile
1998	July 25th	VisionAire 500k	Kenny Bräck	Dallara	Oldsmobile
1999	1st of May	VisionAire 500k	Race canceled after 79 laps *

* Note: An accident on lap 62 with three cars involved in turn 4 resulted in debris flying into the spectator stands. 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 came to the race, additional grandstands were released. One of them was the area on Turn 4 where the wreckage 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 abandoned after 79 laps on the 80th lap.

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 Food Lion Auto Show , one of the largest auto shows in the USA, takes place twice a year on the Speedway . Many commercials and films have also been shot here, including Days of Thunder and Logan Lucky . It is also a popular destination for tourists and a test track.

On May 26, 2006, the Pixar film Cars premiered on several large screens on the Speedway. At the Food Lion Auto Show in April 2005, a sculpture exhibition by Jim Gary ’s Twentieth Century Dinosaurs took place at the same time . This Garysauri menagerie was made up of life-size sculptures made from car parts.

and display information about the image

Panorama of Lowe's Motor Speedway from Turn 2

Current course records

record	year	date	driver	Manufacturer	time	Average speed ( mph )	Average speed ( km / h )
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Qualifying	2014	9th October	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	27.167	198.771	319.891
Race (600 miles)	2016	May 29th	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	3:44:05	160.655	258,549
Race (500 miles)	1999	October 10th	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	3:07:31	160,306	257.987
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Qualifying	2014	8th October	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	28.763	187.735	302.130
Race (300 miles)	1996	25. May	Mark Martin	ford	1:55:23	155.996	251.051
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Qualifying	2014	October, 16th	Kyle Busch	Toyota	29,384	183.773	295.754
Race (200 miles)	2003	May 16	Ted Musgrave	Dodge	1:45:05	114.768	184,701

Web links

Commons : Charlotte Motor Speedway  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• Official website of the Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Charlotte Motor Speedway Page on NASCAR.com