In no sport is the venue more important than it is in auto racing.
For fans each track offers a different viewing experience; a different natural setting; different food; different sounds; different smells; a different feel.
For competitors the track means almost everything. A car’s setup and a driver’s strategy are affected almost totally by where he’s racing.
A baseball game played or watched at Fenway Park is a lot different than one at Veterans Stadium.
The difference between a race at tiny Martinsville Speedway and massive Talladega Superspeedway or the new Chicagoland Speedway, however, is a lot more profound.
But NASCAR tracks are all ovals, the uniniated might say. Well, two of them–Sears Point and Watkins Glen–are not; they’re road coarses with left and right turns and big changes in elevation. The ovals come in many sizes, ranging from a half-mile to more than 2 1/2 miles in circumference, and different shapes.
The banking in the corners can be a scant 6 degrees or a generous 36 degrees, and on some tracks it varies from turn to turn. The surfaces are different. Some tracks have only one “groove,” a preferred lane. Some have two or three.
Some facts and impressions of the Winston Cup Series’ 23 tracks, site of this year’s 36 points races:
New for 2001
NASCAR has been popular in the Southeast for decades, but in the last few years it has been expanding its reach across the country. Since 1990, six Winston Cup races have been added to the circuit: one each in New Hamsphire, Indiana California, Texas, Nevada and Florida. And now come two more events, in Joliet and Kansas. A look at the two newest tracks to join the Winston Cup Series:
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
(Kansas City, Kan.)
Date: Sept. 30 (400 miles)
Track: 1.5-mile tri-oval, 15-degree banking
Qualifying record: None
Race record: None
Quick look: Winston Cup comes to the Sunflower State. We’ll know a lot more about this track Oct. 1.
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY
(Joliet)
Date: July 15 (400 miles)
Track: 1.5-mile tri-oval, 18-degree banking
Qualifying record: None
Race record: None
Quick look: We’ll know much more about this Joliet track July 16. A sellout is likely. A tip: Do what longtime NASCAR fans do–leave home early.
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
(Hampton, Ga.)
Dates: March 11 (500.5 miles), Nov. 18 (500.5 miles)
Track: 1.54-mile tri-oval;
24-degree banking
Qualifying record: 197.478 m.p.h.
Race record: 163.633 m.p.h.
Quick look: Nobody hopes for a tight points race more than Atlanta officials, who would love to see their season-ending race decide the driver’s title.
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
(Bristol, Tenn.)
Dates: March 25 (266.5 miles), Aug. 25 (266.5 miles)
Track: .533-mile oval; 36-degree banking
Qualifying record: 126.370 m.p.h.
Race record: 101.074 m.p.h.
Quick look: A mind-boggling site that offers a mind-boggling sight: 140,000 seats jutting every which way around a tiny oval. Especially eerie is the night race in August. Short-track races like those at Bristol always mean lots of “trading paint.”
CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY
(Fontana, Calif.)
Date: April 29 (500 miles)
Track: 2-mile oval; 14-degree banking
Qualifying record: 186.061 m.p.h.
Race record: 155.012 m.p.h.
Quick look: Laid out exactly like Michigan Speedway but only a one- groove track. No one’s certain why. NASCAR filled its Los Angeles-area void in 1997. Can New York be far behind?
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
(Darlington, S.C.)
Dates: March 18 (400 miles), Sept. 2 (500 miles)
Track: 1.366-mile oval; 23-25 degree banking
Qualifying record: 173.797 m.p.h.
Race record: 139.958 m.p.h.
Quick look: This 51-year-old egg-shaped track, NASCAR’s first paved racetrack, is said to be “too tough to tame.” It eats tires for lunch. If you want to get out of a race unscathed, this is not the place.
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Dates: Feb. 18 (500 miles), July 7 (400 miles)
Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval; 31-degree banking
Qualifying record: 210.364 m.p.h.
Race record: 177.602 m.p.h.
Quick look: NASCAR’s shrine, a few miles from the beach, where stock cars raced a half-century ago. Only in NASCAR is the season’s most important event, the Daytona 500, run first. One possible reason: Nobody’s hurt or worn out yet.
DOVER DOWNS INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(Dover, Del.)
Dates: June 3 (400 miles), Sept. 23 (400 miles)
Track: 1-mile oval; 24-degree banking
Qualifying record: 159.964 m.p.h.
Race record: 132.719 m.p.h.
Quick look: They call it the Monster Mile. The surface is tire-eating concrete. It’s the only NASCAR track built around a harness-racing oval.
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
(Homestead, Fla.)
Date: Nov. 11 (400.5 miles)
Track: 1.5-mile oval; 8-degree banking
Qualifying record: 156.440 m.p.h.
Race record: 140.335 m.p.h.
Quick look: When NASCAR added the Miami stop in 1999, there were complaints the 34-race schedule was too taxing for race teams. Two years later it’s a 36-race schedule.
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Date: Aug. 5 (400 miles)
Track: 2.5-mile oval, 9-degree banking
Qualifying record: 181.072 m.p.h.
Race record: 155.918 m.p.h.
Quick look: The sport’s other U.S. shrine. The Brickyard 400 is the circuit’s most prestigious race after the Daytona 500, and it annually draws the nation’s biggest sports crowd of about 300,000–never mind that there’s not a single seat that offers a view of the entire track. It’s more of a rectangle than an oval, with four tough turns.
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Dates: March 4 (400 miles)
Track: 1.5-mile oval; 12-degree banking
Qualifying record: 172.563 m.p.h.
Race record: 146.554 m.p.h.
Quick look: NASCAR promised entertainment in this entertainment capital, but the three races in Vegas have been disappointing.
LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
(Charlotte, N.C.)
Dates: May 27 (600 miles), Oct. 7 (500 miles)
Track: 1.5-mile oval; 24-degree banking
Qualifying record: 186.034 m.p.h.
Race record: 160.306 m.p.h.
Quick look: May’s 600-miler, which starts in the daytime and ends well after dark, is the circuit’s longest race. A real endurance test.
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
(Martinsville, Va.)
Dates: April 8 (263 miles), Oct. 14 (263 miles)
Track: .526-mile oval; 12-degree banking
Qualifying record: 95.371 m.p.h.
Race record: 82.223 m.p.h.
Quick look: It’s the shortest track on the circuit, with relatively long straightaways and tight turns. A fun place.
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(Brooklyn, Mich.)
Dates: June 10 (400 miles), Aug. 19 (400 miles)
Track: 2-mile oval; 18-degree banking
Qualifying record: 191.149 m.p.h.
Race record: 173.997 m.p.h.
Quick look: Until this year Chicago fans headed to Michigan or Indy if they wanted to watch a race that was less than a day’s drive away. Known as a “horsepower” track: let it rip and take advantage of the ample passing room. Just 70 miles from Detroit, so everyone wants to do well.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(Loudon, N.H.)
Dates: July 22 (317.4 miles), Sept. 16 (317.4 miles)
Track: 1.058-mile oval; 12-degree banking
Qualifying record: 132.089 m.p.h.
Race record: 117.134 m.p.h.
Quick look: This Boston-area track joined the circuit at just the right time, 1993, when the calendar had enough slack to give it two races annually. Now everyone who has one wants two.
NORTH CAROLINA SPEEDWAY
(Rockingham, N.C.)
Dates: Feb. 25 (400 miles), Nov. 4 (400 miles)
Track: 1.017-mile oval; 12-degree banking
Qualifying record: 158.035 m.p.h.
Race record: 131.103 m.p.h.
Quick look: Possibly the only track where you might be able to get a ticket at the last minute: Right after nearly 200,000 fans pack Daytona, fewer than 50,000 customarily turn out at the Rock, located in a sparsely populated area of North Carolina.
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
Date: Oct. 28 (312 miles)
Track: 1-mile oval; 11-degree banking
Qualifying record: 134.178 m.p.h.
Race record: 118.132 m.p.h.
Quick look: Set at the base of the Estrella Mountains. They race in the fall to avoid excessive heat. Like many other NASCAR tracks, it keeps expanding.
POCONO RACEWAY
(Long Pond, Pa.)
Dates: June 17 (500 miles), July 29 (500 miles)
Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval; 6- to 19-degree banking
Qualifying record: 172.391 m.p.h.
Race record: 144.892 m.p.h.
Quick look: It’s actually more of a triangle, with the circuit’s three most challenging turns (not including the two road courses) as well as the circuit’s longest straightaway. This family-owned track offers the Pennsylvania 500 and the Pocono 500. Period. There’s no ridiculous race sponsorship.
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(Richmond, Va.)
Dates: May 5 (300 miles), Sept. 8 (300 miles)
Track: .75-mile oval; 14-degree banking
Qualifying record: 126.499 m.p.h.
Race record: 109.047 m.p.h.
Quick look: It’s a mixture between a short track and a speedway. It’s short and tight, but there’s plenty of room to pass.
SEARS POINT RACEWAY
(Sonoma, Calif.)
Date: June 24 (218 miles)
Track: 1.99-mile, 11-turn road course
Qualifying record: 99.309 m.p.h.
Race record: 78.789 m.p.h.
Quick look: Call it whine country when the stock car engines sound off on this course north of San Francisco. The track is shaped a little like the cans used to fill race car gas tanks.
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
(Talladega, Ala.)
Dates: April 22 (500 miles), Oct. 21 (500 miles)
Track: 2.66-mile tri-oval; 33-degree banking
Qualifying record: 212.809 m.p.h.
Race record: 188.354 m.p.h.
Quick look: Billed as the world’s fastest racing facility. After Bill Elliott’s 212 m.p.h. qualifying lap, it became one of the series’ two restrictor-plate tracks. Cars get in a single-file “draft” to cut down air resistance. If you’re racing by yourself, and have no one to draft with, sayonara, as they say in central Alabama.
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
(Ft. Worth)
Date: April 1 (500 miles)
Track: 1.5-mile oval; 24-degree banking
Qualifying record: 192.137 m.p.h.
Race record: 144.276 m.p.h.
Quick look: It has packed in more than 150,000 fans for all three of its races and wants a second race each year (what track doesn’t?). Owners might get it, and with the schedule beyond the breaking point, a track like Darlington, Rockingham or Martinsville might get the boot and lose a race, as North Wilkesboro, N.C., did in 1996.
WATKINS GLEN
(Watkins Glen, N.Y.)
Date: Aug. 12 (220.5 miles)
Track: 2.45-mile, 12-turn road course
Qualifying record: 121.234 m.p.h.
Race record: 103.300 m.p.h.
Quick look: This storied course in the scenic Finger Lakes region is arguably NASCAR’s most beautiful stop, with Sears Point, Pocono, Michigan, Phoenix and Martinsville being other contenders.
