A NASCAR Historical Glimpse

It was December 1947 when Bill France Sr. organized a meeting in Daytona Beach to discuss NASCAR. This day can be considered as the birth of NASCAR. It was only a few months later that Red Byron wins the first NASCAR race in Daytona Beach. June of 1949 the “Strictly Stock” NASCAR race was held. This is what we know today as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. During this race, Sara Christians came in 14th, and she becomes the first female to take part in NASCAR’s premier division. A lot has changed since those days. Today there are 23 NASCAR race tracks in America. The sport remains driven by excitement and adrenaline pumped by the roars on the speedway.

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Since 1960 Atlanta is home to NASCAR. The speedway is like most others 1.5 miles long. Between 2009 and 2014 the road was host to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on Labor Day Weekend. Due to the move in 2009 from hosting the event on Labor Day rather than in October meant that the race starting time also changed and it became the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series which was held under the lights of the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Atlanta had it all, and other race tracks aspired to be just like Atlanta. It was all about the best racing hospitality, sightlines and smooth running.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Like everything else in or close to Vegas, this track delivers a great show. This track is host to a couple of NASCAR events annually. The highest lap record ever set on the track’s asphalt is 226.491 mph set by Arie Luyendyk during the 1996 IndyCar Series. The speedway had a long history before it was purchased in 1989 by the Imperial Palace’s Ralph Engelstad. It was renamed then to be called the Las Vegas Speedway. In 1996 Engelstad in conjunction with William Bennett of Sahara Hotel built a superspeedway on the same premises at the price of $72 million. In September that year, the first IndyCar event took place and later in November of the same year the first NASCAR Truck Series was hosted. In 1998 the track was sold for $215 million to the Speedway Motorsports group. Memorable moments include the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series when Kurt Busch tested a stock car on the surface.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The racing capital of the world. Home to the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400, the annual Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series since 1994. This was also home to the United States Grand Prix up until about 2012. The track length is 2.5 miles long and was built in 1909. The stadium has a seating capacity of 257 325, which makes it the sports venue with the highest-capacity in the world. Some of the other records for this stadium includes Kevin Harvick with a record lap time for NASCAR at this track at 188.88mph in 2014.