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 Memorial 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.
Quick Answer
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1,200-acre motorsports complex at 7000 Las Vegas Blvd North in Las Vegas, Nevada, about 15 miles northeast of the Strip. Its permanent grandstand seats roughly 80,000 for NASCAR, IndyCar, and NHRA races, while the surrounding infield and lots have hosted EDC crowds topping 500,000 across a single three-night weekend since 2011.
Where Is Las Vegas Motor Speedway Located?
The speedway sits at 7000 Las Vegas Blvd North, Las Vegas, NV 89115, in unincorporated Clark County, roughly 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip near Nellis Air Force Base. Despite the distance from the casino corridor, it carries the “Las Vegas” name because it falls within the greater Las Vegas valley and postal address, and most visitors reach it via Interstate 15 and Las Vegas Boulevard.
For race weekends the complex draws steady car and RV traffic off I-15, while EDC adds a temporary shuttle and rideshare operation from the Strip and nearby hotels, since the speedway’s own parking and camping lots can’t absorb a festival-sized crowd on private vehicles alone.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Capacity
The fixed grandstand now holds about 80,000 spectators, down from a peak of roughly 140,000 during NASCAR’s attendance boom in the early 2000s. The track has trimmed seating in stages, most notably burying the sweeping grandstand between Turns 3 and 4 in 2015 to make room for VIP suites and an RV area, and later widening and renumbering the remaining main-grandstand seats for comfort rather than raw seat count.
That 80,000-seat figure applies to ticketed racing events with assigned seats. EDC uses the speedway differently: the festival is general admission across the infield, camping areas, and surrounding lots rather than the fixed grandstand, which lets Insomniac pack in far more people than a race day allows. In 2024 EDC drew roughly 525,000 attendees over its three nights, a mix of single-day and full-weekend ticket holders that dwarfs the speedway’s seated racing capacity.
From Racetrack to Rave: Why EDC Left the Los Angeles Coliseum
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 tragedy at the 2010 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum event — known in Spanish-language coverage as the Coliseo de Los Ángeles — where a 15-year-old attendee died of an ecstasy overdose after sneaking into the show. The Coliseum’s oversight commission responded with a moratorium on large raves at the venue, and promoter Insomniac went looking for a bigger, more controlled site that could handle six-figure crowds without the neighborhood and safety pressures of an urban stadium.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway fit the bill: a fenced, ticketed motorsports complex on the edge of the valley with acres of open infield, existing parking infrastructure, and no residential neighbors to disturb until sunrise. Attendance climbed steadily in the years that followed, from about 320,000 in 2012 to the 500,000-plus crowds the festival now regularly draws. 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 Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a separate quarter-mile drag strip within the complex. That racing pedigree shapes the festival experience, with fans camping in infield lots and navigating a footprint designed for cars rather than pedestrians — wide access roads, sprawling parking fields, and grandstand infrastructure repurposed as sightlines for stages instead of stock cars.
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.
Planning Your Visit
Because Las Vegas Motor Speedway operates two very different calendars — a NASCAR/IndyCar/NHRA racing season and a single (soon to be double) EDC weekend — hours, gate times, and ticket tiers vary enormously by event rather than following one fixed schedule. Race-day tickets are typically sold by grandstand section and range from general admission to premium suites, while EDC uses general-admission, VIP, and multi-day passes sold directly through the festival’s own ticketing platform rather than the speedway box office.
For current event dates, gate times, ticket prices, and parking or camping details, check the official Las Vegas Motor Speedway website before you go, since both racing schedules and EDC logistics change from year to year.
las vegas motor speedway FAQs
What is the capacity of Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
The permanent grandstand seats about 80,000 for racing events, reduced from a historical peak near 140,000 after the speedway removed and reconfigured seating in the mid-2010s. For general-admission events like EDC, the infield and surrounding grounds can accommodate crowds of 500,000-plus across a multi-night festival.
Where exactly is Las Vegas Motor Speedway located?
It’s at 7000 Las Vegas Blvd North, Las Vegas, NV 89115, about 15 miles northeast of the Strip in unincorporated Clark County, near Interstate 15 and Nellis Air Force Base.
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.
Why did EDC move from the Los Angeles Coliseum to Las Vegas?
A 15-year-old attendee died of a drug overdose at the 2010 EDC held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, prompting the Coliseum’s oversight commission to restrict large raves there. Promoter Insomniac relocated the festival to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011, where the fenced motorsports complex offered more room and fewer neighborhood restrictions.
How many people attend EDC at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
Attendance has grown from about 230,000 at the 2011 debut to roughly 525,000 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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