Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 mi quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race, as well as the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

The 2000 acre complex also features a state-of-the-art quarter mile (0.40 km) drag racing strip, ZMAX Dragway. It is the only all-concrete, four-lane drag strip in the United States and hosts NHRA events. Alongside the drag strip is a state-of-the-art clay oval that hosts dirt racing including the World of Outlaws finals.

History
Charlotte Motor Speedway was designed and built by Bruton Smith and partner and driver Curtis Turner in 1959. The first World 600 NASCAR race was held at the 1.5 mi (2.41 km) speedway on June 19, 1960. On December 8, 1961, the speedway filed bankruptcy notice. Judge J.B. Craven of US District Court for Western North Carolina reorganized it under Chapter 10 of the Bankruptcy Act; Judge Craven appointed Robert "Red" Robinson as the track's trustee until March 1962. At that point a committee of major stockholders in the speedway was assembled, headed by A.C. Goines and furniture store owner Richard Howard. Goines, Howard, and Robinson worked to secure loans and other monies to keep the speedway afloat.

By April 1963 some $750,000 was paid to twenty secured creditors and the track emerged from bankruptcy; Judge Craven appointed Goines as speedway president and Howard as assistant general manager of the speedway, handling its day-to-day operations. By 1964 Howard become the track's general manager, and on June 1, 1967 the speedway's mortgage was paid in full; a public burning of the mortgage was held at the speedway two weeks later.

Smith departed from the speedway in 1962 to pursue other business interests, primarily in banking and auto dealerships from his new home of Rockford, IL. He became quite successful and began buying out shares of stock in the speedway. By 1974 Smith was more heavily involved in the speedway, to where Richard Howard by 1975 stated, "I haven't been running the speedway. It's being run from Illinois." In 1975 Smith had become the majority stockholder, regaining control of its day-to-day operations. Smith hired H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler as general manager in October 1975, and on January 29, 1976 Richard Howard resigned as president and GM of the speedway.

Together Smith and Wheeler began to implement plans for improvement and expansion of the speedway.

In the following years, new grandstands and luxury suites were added along with modernized concessions and restrooms to increase the comfort for race fans. Smith Tower, a 135000 sqft, seven-story facility was built and connected to the grandstands in 1988. The tower houses the speedway corporate officers, ticket office, gift shop, leased offices and The Speedway Club; and exclusive dining and entertainment facility. The speedway became the first sports facility in America to offer year round living accommodations when 40 condominiums were built overlooking turn 1 in 1984, twelve additional condominium units were later added in 1991.

In 1992, Smith and Wheeler directed the installation of a $1.7 million, 1,200-fixture permanent lighting system around the track developed by Musco lighting. The track became the first modern superspeedway to host night racing, and was the largest lighted speedway until 1998 when lights were installed around the 2.5 mi Daytona International Speedway. In 1994, Smith and Wheeler added a new $1 million, 20000 sqft garage area to the speedway's infield.

In 1995, 26 year old Russell Phillips was killed in one of the most gruesome crashes in auto racing history.

From 1997 to 1999 the track hosted the Indycar Series. On lap 61 of the 1999 race, a crash led to a car losing a tire, which was then propelled into the grandstands by another car. Three spectators were killed and eight others were injured in the incident. The race was canceled shortly after, and the series has not returned to the track since. The incident, along with a similar incident in July 1998 in a Champ Car race at Michigan International Speedway, led to new rules requiring cars to have tethers attached to wheel hubs to prevent tires from breaking away in a crash. Also following the crash, the catch fencing at Charlotte and other SMI owned tracks was raised from 15 ft high with 3 ft overhangs to 21 ft with 6 ft overhangs to help prevent debris from entering the stands.

In February 1999, Lowe's bought the naming rights to the speedway, making it the first race track in the country with a corporate sponsor. Lowe's chose not to renew its naming rights after the 2009 NASCAR season. The track reverted to its original name, Charlotte Motor Speedway, in 2010.

In 2005, the surface of the track had begun to wear since its last repaving in 1994. This resulted in track officials diamond-grinding the track, a process known as levigation, to smooth out bumps that had developed. The ground surface caused considerable tire-wear problems in both of the NASCAR races that year. Both races saw a high number of accidents as a result of tire failure due to the roughness of the surface. In 2006, the track was completely repaved.

Track president "Humpy" Wheeler retired following the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, 2008, and was replaced by Marcus Smith. At the end of 2008, the speedway reduced capacity by 25,000 citing reduced ticket sales. At the same time, the front stretch seats were upgraded form 18 in fold down seats to 22 in stadium style seats that were acquired from the recently demolished Charlotte Coliseum. On September 22, 2010, CMS announced a partnership with Panasonic to install the world's largest high definition video board at the track. The video board measures approximately 200 ft wide by 80 ft tall, containing over nine million LEDs and is situated between turn 2 and 3 along the track's backstretch.

Bridge collapse
On May 20, 2000, fans were crossing a pedestrian bridge from the track to a nearby parking lot after a NASCAR all-star race. An 80-foot section of the walkway fell onto a highway in Concord. In total, 107 fans were injured at Lowe's Motor Speedway when the bridge dropped 17 feet to the ground. Nearly 50 lawsuits against the speedway resulted from the incident, with many being settled out of court. Investigators have said the bridge builder, Tindall Corp., used an improper additive to help the concrete filler at the bridge's center dry faster. The additive contained calcium chloride, which corroded the structure's steel cables and led to the collapse. The incident is considered one of the biggest disasters in NASCAR history.

Quad oval
The main quad oval is 1.5 mi long with turns banked at 24 degrees and the straightaways banked at 5 degrees. Currently the track hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series.

Contained within the main oval is a 2.25 mi road course and a 0.6 mi Kart course. Between the front stretch is a 0.25 mi flat oval designed after Bowman-Gray Stadium. The 1/4 Mile track currently host the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, the Summer Shootout Series and other events such as the Legends Millon.

zMAX Dragway
The zMAX Dragway is a state-of-the-art four-lane drag strip, located on 125 acre of CMS property across U.S. Highway 29 from the main superspeedway. It was built in 2008 involving a total of 1,876 workers and a combined 636,000 man hours. With 300 workers on site daily working an average 11-hour shift, a 13-month construction project turned into a 6-month one. At one point during construction, concern by nearby residents led Concord city council to rezone land the drag strip was being built on, preventing it from being built. Following the decision Smith threatened to close Charlotte Motor Speedway and build a track elsewhere in Metrolina. When asked if he would go through with the threat Smith replied "I am deadly serious". After a month of negotiations, the issue was settled and, instead of the speedway closing, Smith announced $200 million worth of improvements including road and highway improvements, as well as noise attenuation for the drag strip. The drag strip officially opened on August 20, 2008, and a public open house was held a few days later. The first NHRA event was held September 11–14, 2008.

The dragway features the only all-concrete, four-lane drag strip in the United States. The starting line tower is 34000 sqft and includes 16 luxury suites, race control areas and a press box. Two grandstands, one on either side of the strip, can hold a combined 30,000 spectators. Twenty-four luxury suites with hospitality accommodations are located above the main grandstand. Two tunnels run underneath the strip to enhance fan mobility between the two grandstands.

The Dirt Track
The Dirt Track at Charlotte is a 0.4 mi clay oval located across Highway 29 from the quad-oval speedway. The stadium-style facility, built in 2000, has nearly 14,000 seats and plays host to Dirt Late Models, Modifieds, Sprint Cars, Monster Trucks and the prestigious World of Outlaws World Finals. In 2013, the track will host Global RallyCross Round 8.

1/5-mile oval
Located outside of the backstretch of the main speedway near turn three is a small 1/5-mile auxiliary oval occasionally used for Legends races. The auxiliary oval used to have a twin dirt oval that was removed following the construction of the aforementioned Dirt Track. The World Karting Association hosted a Labor Day Weekend event combining competitors points from the paved and dirt ovals. Brian Vickers emerged victorious in the only running of this event.

Races
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
 * Sprint All-Star Race, Coca-Cola 600, Bank of America 500

NASCAR Nationwide Series:
 * History 300, Dollar General 300

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:
 * North Carolina Education Lottery 200

NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
 * UNOH Southern Slam 150

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:
 * NHRA Carolina Nationals ZMax 4 Wide Nationals

INEX raceCeiver Legends Car Series
 * Legends Big Money 100, Summer Shootout Series, Winter Heat Series

Global RallyCross Championship

Traxxas TORC Series

World of Outlaws
 * WoO May Showdown (sprint cars)
 * WoO Late Model Showdown (late models)
 * World of Outlaws: World Finals (sprint cars, late models, Super DiRT Car Series)

Former races

 * NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (1987)
 * IROC (1996–1997)
 * IZOD IndyCar Series VisionAire 500K (1997–1999)
 * ARCA (1996–2004)
 * American LeMans Series (2000)
 * IMSA GT Championship (1971, 1974, 1982–1986)
 * AMA Supercross Championship (1996-1998)
 * ASA National Tour (2004)
 * NASCAR Goody's Dash Series (1975-1976, 1985-1988, 1997-2003)
 * SCCA Formula Super Vee (1974, 1978-1982)
 * NASCAR Sportsman Division (1989-1995)

Other events
The facility is considered one of the busiest sports venues in the country, typically with over 380 events a year. Along with many races, the speedway also hosts the Charlotte Auto Fair twice a year, one of the nation's largest car shows. Movies and commercials have been filmed at the speedway, notably Days of Thunder, and it is a popular tourist stop and car testing grounds. The facility also hosts several driving schools year-round, such as Richard Petty Driving Experience, where visitors have the opportunity to experience the speedway from a unique point-of-view behind the wheel of a race car.

The feature of the April 2005 Food Lion Auto Fair at the speedway was a popular sculpture exhibition, Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs. It is a menagerie of Garysauruses, all life-sized, and constructed of automobile parts. A special tent housed the heavily attended exhibition and a huge Gary sculpture, over forty feet long, was displayed at the entrance to the raceway during the entire fair. H. A. "Humpy" Wheeler and the speedway then sponsored the funding for the traveling sculpture exhibition to be featured by Belk College of Business on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where a self-guided tour of the campus-wide display was extended to the end of July.

American Idol season twelve auditions took place at the speedway from October 2–3, 2012.

Track records
NOTE: NHRA does not keep records for Top Fuel or Funny Car because of the 1,000 foot distance used in those two classes when the track opened.