Charlotte Motor Speedway opened on June 15, 1960, just outside Charlotte in Concord, North Carolina, and quickly became one of NASCAR’s marquee venues. Built in under a year for roughly $2 million, the 1.5-mile quad-oval overcame a rocky start, including surface problems at its debut race and a stint in federal receivership in 1961, before growing into a cornerstone of the sport.
Today the speedway is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports and anchors a roughly 2,000-acre motorsports complex that also includes dirt and drag racing facilities. It remains best known as the home of the Coca-Cola 600, held every year since the track opened, and for its innovative Roval road-course layout introduced in 2018 for NASCAR’s playoffs.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Concord, North Carolina
- Opened: June 15, 1960
- Capacity: About 95,000
- Track Length: 1.5-mile quad-oval (about 2.28-mile Roval configuration)
- Owner: Speedway Motorsports, LLC
- Banking: 24 degrees in turns, 5 degrees on straights
- Notable Fact: First major superspeedway to add permanent lighting for night racing, in 1992
The Race Day Experience
Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts NASCAR’s longest points race, the Coca-Cola 600, on Memorial Day weekend, a Cup Series tradition dating back to the track’s opening year. The venue has also long been a stage for exhibition racing, having hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race from 1987 through 2019 before that event moved to Texas.
Since 1992, lights have allowed the speedway to run night races, a first for a track of its size and a signature part of the Charlotte race weekend experience ever since.
From Oval to Roval
In 2018, Charlotte Motor Speedway debuted the Roval, a roughly 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course built into the infield and oval that turned the traditional quad-oval into a technical circuit for NASCAR’s playoff race, the Bank of America Roval 400. The layout has been reworked multiple times since, including revisions to the chicanes to improve passing.
The Roval gave stock car racing one of its most unpredictable playoff elimination races and cemented Charlotte’s reputation for innovating on a track built more than six decades ago.
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Charlotte Motor Speedway FAQs
When did Charlotte Motor Speedway open?
It opened on June 15, 1960, after being built in under 11 months.
What is the seating capacity of Charlotte Motor Speedway?
The speedway seats approximately 95,000 fans.
What is the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway?
The Roval is a roughly 2.28-mile, 17-turn road-course configuration introduced in 2018 that combines the oval with an infield road course, used for NASCAR’s Bank of America Roval 400 playoff race.
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Photo: Mblock150 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.