Kentucky Speedway

Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Jerry Carroll, who, along with four other investors, owned Kentucky Speedway until 2008. The speedway has a grandstand capacity of 107,000. Construction of the speedway began in 1998 and was completed in mid 2000. In 2005, Kentucky Speedway filed a lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation (ISC). The lawsuit ended in 2009 after Judge William O. Bertelsman dismissed it with NASCAR and ISC winning the suit. The speedway has hosted the Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series, IndyCar Series, and the Firestone Indy Lights Series since the track opened, but the track didn't receive a Sprint Cup Series event until 2011. ==Track history== ===Early history and construction=== On January 8, 1998, Jerry Carroll announced that he and four other investors were going to build a $153 million racing facility in Sparta, Kentucky. Five months later, groundbreaking ceremonies were held on July 18, 1998. While construction continued, it was announced that the speedway would open with a ARCA race in 2000. Afterward, it was announced that the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series would promote a race following the ARCA race. Testing at the track began with Bill Baird, who participated in ARCA. In November 1999, it was announced that is would also hold a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (now Camping World Truck Series) race in 2000. The speedway continued to announce races for the 2000 racing season, one of which was a second ARCA race. Several months later, the speedway decided to resurface the track because of bumps in the surface from winter. On June 16, 2000, the speedway opened with a Slim Jim All Pro Series event. One day later, the speedway held its first major series, the Craftsman Truck Series, which was won by Greg Biffle. In August of the same year, Buddy Lazier won the inaugural IndyCar Series race. On August 29, 2000, NASCAR announced that Kentucky Speedway would also sanction a Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) race in 2001. One year after the speedway opened, it held its first Busch Series event, with Kevin Harvick emerging as the winner. ===2002–2011=== During the 2002 IndyCar race at the track, Jason Priestley suffered a concussion and fractures to his thoracic spine and feet, becoming the first major injury to occur at the speedway. Three years later, Carroll began his efforts to receive a Nextel Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event at the track. While trying to do so, Kentucky Speedway filed an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR and the International Speedway Corporation (ISC). The reason for the lawsuit was the claim that both companies violated federal antitrust laws because of restricting the awarding of Nextel Cup Series events. The lawsuit continued for three years before concluding in January, 2008 with Judge William O. Bertelsman dismissing the trial with ISC and NASCAR winning the lawsuit. Following the dismissal, Judge Bertelsman commented, "After careful consideration and a thorough review of the record, and granting Kentucky Speedway the benefit of the doubt on all reasonable inferences therefrom, the court concludes that Speedway has failed to make out its case." During May 2008, the speedway announced that Speedway Motorsports Inc. bought the speedway from Jerry Carroll. Bruton Smith invested $50 million in the speedway, and planned to move a Sprint Cup Series event to the track by 2009. However, the speedway did not receive a Sprint Cup Series event in the 2009 season. Also in 2009, the lawsuit against NASCAR and ISC was dropped by Carroll, but other former owners of the speedway sued Carroll, therefore extending the lawsuit even further. The speedway continued having Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series, IndyCar, and Firestone Indy Light Series events through 2010 and further. In 2010, both former owners of the speedway reached a settlement, ending the lawsuit. In August 2010, it was announced that the speedway would hold its inaugural Sprint Cup Series event, the Quaker State 400, during the 2011 season. Before the first Sprint Cup Series event, Kentucky Speedway expanded the capacity of the track from 66,000 to 107,000. The speedway also reconfigured pit road, and added 200 acres of camping. The inaugural Quaker State 400 was held on July 9th, 2011. The race was won by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch. However, the race was overshadowed by numerous logistical problems. A massive traffic jam on Interstate 71 resulted in as many as 20,000 people being unable to get to the race. The traffic situation was so severe that at least one driver nearly missed the pre-race drivers' meeting. Many fans still en route by the halfway point of the race were asked to turn back in order to make it easier on those leaving the race. Due to inadequate parking, several fans were turned away, even though they had tickets. Those who made it to the race were only reported having to wait half an hour or more to use the restroom due to a shortage of port-a-johns. Others reported shortages at the concession stands. Speedway Motorsports had not anticipated the sheer number of fans attending the event (the increased capacity notwithstanding) and had not made any significant upgrades to the infrastructure in and around the facility. Speedway officials apologized for the snafu and allowed those who didn't get in to redeem their tickets at Speedway Motorsports' other tracks for the rest of the season, or the 2012 Quaker State 400. In late 2011, the speedway bought more land for parking and began to work with the state government to improve traffic around the speedway in time for the 2012 race.Jensen, Tom. What now, Kentucky?. Speed, 2011-07-10.Hembree, Mike. Kentucky Speedway To Add Parking Area. Speed, 2011-07-10.Kentucky Speedway apologizes to fans. Speedway Motorsports, 2011-07-11.Blount, Terry. Kentucky Speedway gets a mulligan. ESPN, 2011-07-12. ===Configuration=== Image:Kentucky Speedway.svg|Speedway Oval  ==Current Racing events== Sourced by. * Sprint Cup Series: *:Quaker State 400 * Nationwide Series: *:Feed the Children 300 *:Kentucky 300 * Camping World Truck Series: *:UNOH 225 Kentucky 201 ==Track records== {| class="wikitable" |+ 1.5 mi tri-oval |- !Record!!Year!!Date!!Driver!!Car Make!!Time!!Speed/Average Speed |- |colspan=7|NASCAR Sprint Cup Series |- | Qualifying ||2012 || June 29 ||🇺🇸 Jimmie Johnson ||Chevrolet ||aligh=right|29.700||181.818 mph |- | Race (400 miles) ||2012|| June 30 ||🇺🇸 Brad Keselowski || Dodge ||align=right| 2:45:02|| 145.607 mph |- |colspan=7|NASCAR Nationwide Series |- | Qualifying ||2005 || June 18 ||🇺🇸 Carl Edwards || Ford ||align=right|29.787||181.287 mph |- | Race (300 miles) ||2011 ||July 8||🇺🇸 Brad Keselowski || Dodge ||align=right|2:10:03 ||138.408 mph |- |colspan=7|NASCAR Camping World Truck Series |- | Qualifying ||2011|| October 1 ||🇺🇸 Austin Dillon || Chevrolet ||align=right|30.022||179.868 mph |- | Race (225 miles) ||2003|| July 13 ||🇺🇸 Mike Bliss || Chevrolet ||align=right|1:34:04||143.515 mph |- |colspan=7|IZOD IndyCar Series |- | Qualifying ||2002|| August 11 || 🇺🇸 Sarah Fisher || G Force-Infiniti ||align=right| ||221.390 mph |- | Race (300 miles) ||2009|| August 1 || 🇺🇸 Ryan Briscoe || Dallara-Honda ||align=right|1:28:24||200.893 mph |- |colspan=7| Source:{{cite web|title=Rainout puts Busch on Kentucky Cup pole|url=|} ==References== ==External links== * Kentucky Speedway Official Site * Kentucky Speedway Page on NASCAR.com * Jayski's Kentucky Speedway Page – Current and Past Kentucky Speedway News * Super High Resolution image from Windows Live Local