Lowe's Motor Speedway

With the majority of NASCAR teams located within a short drive from Charlotte, Lowe's serves as a "home track" for many of the stars.

Formerly Charlotte Motors Speedway until Lowe's paid handsomely for the naming rights, this 1.5-mile quad-oval is the showpiece of the Speedway Motorsports portfolio. Located just off Highway 29 in Harrisburg, North Carolina, Lowe's Motor Speedway is the annual site of NASCAR's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 (formerly World 600) on Memorial Day weekend.

With turns banked at 24 degrees and the straights banked at 5 degrees, Lowe's is one of the faster "intermediate" superspeedways, as Jimmie Johnson's qualifying record of 186.464 mph will attest. Built in 1959 by Speedway Motorsports chairman O. Bruton Smith and his business partner of the time, stock car driver Curtis Turner, Lowe's opened in June of 1960 with the inaugural World 600.

The speedway hosts a 500-mile race in the fall. In addition, Lowe's has been home to 17 of the 18 runnings of The Winston all-star race, a non-points event that traditionally takes place eight days before the Coca-Cola 600. Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison are tied for most wins at Lowe's with six each. With five victories in the 600, Waltrip is the only driver to win NASCAR's longest race more than three times.

Lowe's Motor Speedway's management, headed by Smith and track president H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, has always been innovative. In 1992 the Lowe's was the first superspeedway to install a lighting system that allowed night racing. Lowe's was also the first track to build condominiums with a view of the speedway. Residen'is can watch the action from their perches above Turn 1.

A crowd of 35,000 saw the first race at this venue, but the capacity has now grown to an awesome 100,000.

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