Las Vegas Motor Speedway opened its main 1.5-mile tri-oval track in 1996 as a NASCAR Cup Series venue north of the Strip, part of a larger motorsports complex whose roots trace back to 1971. While it remains best known for stock car racing, IndyCar, and NHRA drag events, the speedway’s vast infield and surrounding grounds have made it one of the largest music festival sites in the country.
Since 2011, the speedway has served as the home of Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), the largest electronic dance music festival in North America. What began as a relocation from the Los Angeles Coliseum after safety concerns there has grown into an annual dusk-to-dawn spectacle spread across nine stages, transforming a racetrack built for engines into one of the country’s most attended live music events.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Type: Motorsports complex and festival grounds
- Opened: 1996 (main track); complex dates to 1971
- Capacity: About 80,000 for the racetrack; festival grounds have drawn over 500,000 attendees across three nights
- Famous for: Annual home of Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) since 2011
- Owner/Operator: Speedway Motorsports, LLC
From Racetrack to Rave
Electric Daisy Carnival’s first Las Vegas edition ran June 24-26, 2011, drawing roughly 230,000 attendees to the speedway’s grounds. The move followed a fatal overdose and crowd-control problems at the 2010 Los Angeles Coliseum event, prompting promoter Insomniac to seek a larger, more controlled venue.
Attendance climbed steadily in the years that followed, from about 320,000 in 2012 to a record 530,000 in 2024. Starting in 2018, organizers shifted the festival from June to May to avoid the worst of the desert heat, and the event now spans nine stages across the speedway’s infield and surrounding lots, including the Kinetic Field main stage.
A Venue Built for Speed, Repurposed for Sound
Outside of EDC, the speedway continues to host its primary business: NASCAR Cup Series races, IndyCar events, and NHRA drag racing at the adjacent Bandimere-style strip. That racing pedigree shapes the festival experience, with fans camping in infield lots and navigating a footprint designed for cars rather than pedestrians.
Beginning in 2027, EDC is set to expand into two festival weekends with identical lineups, a change organizers say will ease congestion on the speedway’s roads and parking areas while keeping the event anchored at the same North Las Vegas location it has called home for over a decade.
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Las Vegas Motor Speedway FAQs
Is Las Vegas Motor Speedway a music venue or a racetrack?
Primarily a racetrack. It’s a 1.5-mile NASCAR, IndyCar, and NHRA motorsports complex that opened in 1996, but its grounds have hosted Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), one of the largest music festivals in the U.S., every year since 2011.
How many people attend EDC at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
Attendance has grown from about 230,000 in the 2011 debut to a record roughly 530,000 across three nights in 2024, making it the largest electronic dance music festival in North America.
When is EDC held at the speedway each year?
EDC now takes place in mid-May, after organizers moved it from its original June date starting in 2018 to reduce heat-related risks for attendees.
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Photo: Maverick Helicopters / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.