Las Vegas Motor Speedway

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Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The Blue Oval
The House Of Roush
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Address:
7000 Las Vegas Blvd. North,
Las Vegas,
Nevada 89115

Las Vegas Motor Speedway (USA)
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United StatesUnited States Clark County , Nevada , USA
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Route type: permanent race track
Owner: Speedway Motorsports , Inc.
Operator: Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Opening: September 15, 1996
Speedway oval
Tri-oval
Las Vegas Motor Speedway.PNG
Route data
Important
events: 		Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube
South Point 400

NASCAR Xfinity Series
Boyd Gaming 300
Smith's 300

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Safelite Autoglass 350
Switch 350

Route length: 2.48  km (1.54  mi )
Curve superelevation: Curves: 20 °
Audience capacity: 142,000
http://www.lvms.com

Coordinates: 36 ° 16 ′ 17 ″  N , 115 ° 0 ′ 40 ″  W.

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a racetrack on a 4.9 km² complex in north Las Vegas in Clark County , Nevada . It is owned by Speedway Motorsports , Inc., based in Charlotte , North Carolina .

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the base for several racing teams. Since March 2005, it has been available for private drag races two evenings a week in order to offer an alternative to illegal activities on the streets and to increase safety.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police also use the racetrack as a practice area for their driver training.

history

Over 100,000 spectators in 2006
Mark Martin leads the field in 2008

In addition to the races of the NASCAR racing series, the Indy Racing League was also a guest on the speedway from 1996 to 2000, as was the Champ Car series in 2004 and 2005. In 2011, the IndyCar Series hosted its final in Las Vegas, with the IndyCar Series providing five cars for famous drivers from other series. Had either of these drivers won, they would have received $ 5 million in bonus prize money. The only driver who took up this challenge was Dan Wheldon , who later died in the race .

Las Vegas Speedway is also known as "The Blue Oval" because the races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup are often dominated by drivers in Ford racing cars. Jimmie Johnson , Jeff Gordon and Sterling Marlin are some of the very few drivers to have won a race in a non-Ford racing car.

Another name is "The House of Roush" because nearly all of Roush Racing's drivers were successful at Las Vegas Speedway, including Matt Kenseth , Mark Martin and Jeff Burton .

In the years from 1999 to 2000 the Winston No Bull 5 was driven out on the speedway. Jeff Burton won $ 1 million in 2000 , as did Jeff Gordon in 2001. The 1999 winners with Jeff Burton and 2002 with Sterling Marlin were not eligible as they were the three of four races required for this could not win.

The Motor Speedway with a view of the Nevada mountains

In 2006, plans were announced that the speedway would be reconfigured after the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in March. A progressive cant should be made, which means that the cant increases towards the outside of the curve. This was intended to improve the ability to drive through curves with several cars next to each other. In addition, a new fan area called "The Neon Garage" was to be built and the pit lane renewed in order to bring the action closer to the fans. As a further addition, the additional oval with a length of half a mile, known for speedway motorsports racetracks, was to be built.

The newly configured race track was reopened on August 8, 2006. The 2004 champion and Las Vegas native Kurt Busch completed the first drive in a NASCAR racing car . The first race of the NASCAR Nationwide Series was won by Jeff Burton, while Jimmie Johnson took the first victory in the Sprint Cup.

On October 16, 2011, a mass accident occurred on the Motor Speedway, in which 15 of the 34 starters were involved. The two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed and three other drivers were injured. It was the first death in the Indy series since Paul Dana's accident in 2006. The day before, driver James Jakes had a serious accident when his car crashed into a wall and started to burn. Jakes wasn't hurt.

Events

NASCAR Sprint Cup racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

On the 1.5 mile oval:

On the quarter mile off-road oval:

  • various off-road racing events

On the quarter mile acceleration route:

  • Two NHRA events per year

Records

The reconfiguration in 2006 increased the curve superelevation. Significantly higher speeds were achieved in tests prior to the 2007 season, with Sprint Cup drivers hitting unofficial lap averages of more than 185 mph.

  • NASCAR Sprint Cup Qualifying: Kurt Busch , 27.498 s (196.378 mph), 2016
  • NASCAR Sprint Cup Race: Mark Martin , 2:35:24 s (154.663 mph), 2014
  • NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying: Greg Biffle , 28,830 s (192,300 mph), 2003
  • NASCAR Xfinity Series Race: Jeff Burton , 2:13:13 s (135.118 mph), 2000
  • NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: Mike Skinner , 30.326 s (178.065 mph), 2006
  • NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race: David Starr , 1:37:03 (135.394 mph), 2002

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ Spiegel Online: Indy 500 winner dies in racing accident in Las Vegas , October 17, 2011.