Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway at a glance

Location

Concord, North Carolina

Type

road course & oval

Length

1.5 mi (2.414 km)

Turns

4

Direction

counter-clockwise

Banking

24° in the turns, 5° on the straights

Surface

asphalt

Opened

1960

Owner

Speedway Motorsports

Capacity

95,000

Address

5555 Concord Pkwy S

Phone

+1-704-455-4445

Website

charlottemotorspeedway.com

Track map and layout

Charlotte is the archetypal 1.5-mile 'cookie-cutter' intermediate oval that much of the modern NASCAR schedule is built around, with sweeping 24-degree banked turns that allow multi-groove racing and high average speeds. What sets it apart is the 'Roval,' an infield road course layout that weaves through part of the oval, the frontstretch and a tight, twisting infield section including a chicane near the frontstretch and a hairpin in the backstretch infield; it has hosted a Cup Series playoff race since 2018. The track also has a separate historic 0.25-mile dirt oval on the property used for select short-track events, making Charlotte one of the most configurable venues in NASCAR.

Named corners and sections

• Turn 1 (Roval). The infield road course peels off the oval into a tight infield section shortly after Turn 1, one of the Roval's key passing zones.
• The Roval chicane. A tight bus-stop-style chicane on the frontstretch section of the road course configuration, a frequent contact point in Cup Series Roval races.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Charlotte's marquee event is the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race, run every Memorial Day weekend since the track's opening year of 1960. The speedway also hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race for decades and continues to host other Cup, Xfinity and Truck weekends on the oval, plus a Cup Series playoff race on the Roval road course. The property additionally includes a dirt track and drag strip that run their own event calendars.

Getting there and parking

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is the primary gateway, roughly 25-30 minutes from the speedway depending on traffic, with the track itself sitting just off Interstate 85 in Concord, north of Charlotte.

• Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) · about 30 min drive

Parking

Free parking is available in lots northwest of the track near the dirt track, while paid lots closer to the venue run roughly $20 or more per day; most RV camping and parking sits east of the speedway.

Traffic around Concord backs up significantly for the Coca-Cola 600; allow extra time and consider the free lots with a longer walk if you want to avoid paid parking fees.

Hotels and camping near Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord and surrounding Cabarrus County have a large hotel base built up around the speedway and nearby Concord Mills, and Charlotte itself, about 20-30 minutes south, offers a much larger selection for those willing to commute. Booking ahead for Coca-Cola 600 weekend is recommended as the local hotel supply fills quickly.

Where to look

Concord and Concord Mills, plus greater Charlotte, North Carolina.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

Charlotte Motor Speedway offers driving and ride-along experiences in real stock cars through an on-site partner program, and hosts a variety of amateur and club track-day events on both the oval and the Roval configuration through outside organizers. Its NASCAR Hall of Fame ties and pit-road tours make it one of the more visitor-accessible tracks on the circuit outside of race weeks.

Who runs days here

• Richard Petty Driving Experiencecar

Lap records

Spectator guide

Charlotte's frontstretch grandstands give full views of the pit road, start/finish line and much of the surrounding banking, and the Roval's infield sections put fans much closer to the cars than a typical oval layout allows.

Seating

Frontstretch and backstretch grandstands run the length of the 1.5-mile oval; for Roval races, infield grounds tickets and select grandstands offer views of multiple corners in the road course's twisty infield section.

Best places to watch

Upper frontstretch rows see pit road and the tri-oval-style front section clearly; for the Roval, seats near the infield chicane and hairpin see the most overtaking and contact.

Bag policy

Clear-bag policy applies: bags must be clear plastic, vinyl or PVC within standard size limits, or a small clutch bag, per official event policy.

Weather

• May: Warm and humid, highs in the 80s°F for the Coca-Cola 600, with evening cooldown for the night finish
• Oct: Mild fall weather, highs in the 60s-70s°F

History of Charlotte Motor Speedway

Founding and early struggles

Charlotte Motor Speedway was built by Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner and opened in June 1960 as one of NASCAR's first purpose-built 1.5-mile superspeedways. The track's early years were financially rocky, and it went through bankruptcy and ownership changes before Smith regained control in 1975 and began building it into the commercial and technical showcase it became known for, including the introduction of the first permanent lighting system for night racing at a superspeedway-scale track.

Innovation hub

Through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Charlotte became a proving ground for NASCAR firsts: the first fully lit superspeedway in 1992 for The Winston (predecessor to the All-Star Race), condominiums built into the frontstretch grandstands, and one of the sport's most technologically equipped press and broadcast facilities. Its location in the heart of NASCAR's home region, surrounded by team shops and the sport's broader industry, made it a natural home for the NASCAR All-Star Race, which the track hosted for most of its history from 1985 through 2019.

The Roval era

In 2018 the speedway unveiled the 'Roval,' a road course configuration weaving oval sections together with a newly built infield road course, giving Charlotte a genuinely different race in addition to its longtime 600-mile oval classic. The Roval immediately became a fixture of the Cup Series playoffs, prized for producing chaotic, high-stakes racing in the postseason's opening rounds. Today Charlotte balances its oval heritage, headlined by the Coca-Cola 600 every Memorial Day weekend, with the Roval's road-course playoff race, plus a dirt track and dragstrip on the same sprawling Concord property that keep the venue active across multiple disciplines throughout the year.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Carolina Motorsports Park · 60 mi · road course
• Darlington Raceway · 85 mi · oval
• Martinsville Speedway · 100 mi · oval
• Virginia International Raceway (VIR) · 118 mi · road course
• Bristol Motor Speedway · 119 mi · oval
• Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta · 197 mi · road course