 TRACK SPECSBanking: turns: 24 degrees; straights: 5 degrees Straights: Frontstretch - 1952.8 feet; Backstretch - 1360 feet Grandstand Seating: 167,000 TRACK HISTORYCourtesy of www.lowesmotorspeedway.comLowe's Motor Speedway was designed and built in 1959 by current chairman O. Bruton Smith. The late Curtis Turner, one of stock car racing's earliest driving stars, was Smith's business partner. At the time Smith, a native of Oakboro, N.C., was an automobile dealer and short-track stock car racing promoter at Concord Motor Speedway and the Charlotte Fairgrounds. Turner, a Virginian who amassed his money in the lumber industry, became one of the first drivers on the NASCAR circuit after the sanctioning body debuted in 1949. Together, they built their dream of a 1.5-mile superspeedway on the outskirts of The Queen City and, on June 19, 1960, the first World 600 was run at the new facility. In 1961, like many superspeedways of the era, the track fell into Chapter 11 reorganization from which it eventually emerged despite lagging ticket sales. After his departure from the speedway in 1962, Smith pursued other business interests in Texas and Illinois. Working within Ford Motor Company's dealership program, Smith became quite successful and began purchasing shares of stock in Lowe's Motor Speedway. By 1975 Smith had again become the majority stockholder in the speedway, regaining control of its day-to-day operations. He hired current President H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler as general manager and the two began to implement plans for needed improvements and expansion. During the ensuing 25 years, Smith and Wheeler demonstrated a commitment to customer satisfaction, building a facility that continuously established new industry standards. Thousands of grandstand seats and luxury suites were built. Food concessions and restroom facilities were added and modernized to increase the comfort of race fans. Smith Tower, a 135,000-square-foot, seven-story facility connected to the speedway's grandstands, was erected and opened in 1988. The building houses the speedway's corporate offices, ticket office, souvenir gift shop, leased office space and The Speedway Club, an exclusive dining and entertainment facility. Under the watchful eye of Smith and direction of Wheeler, in 1984 Lowe's Motor Speedway became the only sports facility in America to offer year-round living accommodations when it built 40 condominiums high above turn one. Twelve additional condominium units were added in 1991. Another innovation implemented by Smith and Wheeler was a $1.7 million, 1,200-fixture permanent lighting system developed by MUSCO Lighting of Oskaloosa, Iowa. The revolutionary lighting process uses mirrors to simulate daylight without glare, shadows or obtrusive light poles. The lighting system was installed in 1992, allowing Lowe's Motor Speedway to be the first superspeedway to host night auto racing. Ever cognizant of the competitors as well as the spectators, Smith and Wheeler added a new $1 million, 20,000-square-foot Winston Cup garage area in 1994. Other additions and improvements include the development of the speedway's 2,000-plus acres. In addition to the speedway, the property, some of which is leased, includes an industrial park that serves as home to several motorsports-related businesses, a modern landfill facility operated by BFI and a natural wildlife habitat. In addition to the 1.5-mile quad oval, the Lowe's Motor Speedway complex includes a 2.25-mile road course and a six-tenths-mile karting layout in the speedway's infield; a quarter-mile asphalt oval utilizing part of the speedway's frontstretch and pit road; and a one-fifth-mile oval located outside turn three of the superspeedway. Three NASCAR Winston Cup events, two NASCAR Busch Series races, a pair of Automobile Racing Club of America events and a Goody's Dash Series race are among the events held each year on the 1.5-mile superspeedway. The FasTrack Driving School and the Richard Petty Driving Experience also use the track extensively throughout the year. Other events on the various tracks include a weekly, nationally televised short track series for Legends Cars; Sports Car Club of America national and regional competitions; American Motorcycle Association events; and World Karting Association regional, national and international races. In May 2000, a state-of-the-art four-tenths-mile clay oval-The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway-was completed across Highway 29 from the speedway. The stadium-style facility has nearly 15,000 seats and plays host to the Pennzoil World of Outlaws sprint cars, dirt late model stock cars, the AMA Grand National motorcycles, the Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRT Series and Monster Trucks. Lowe's Motor Speedway also annually presents two of the nation's largest car shows and swap meets-the Food Lion AutoFairs in April and September-and rents the facility more than 300 days per year. Corporations such as IBM, UNOCAL, Miller Brewing, Coca-Cola, Duracell, Wendy's and Lipton Tea have rented the speedway to film television commercials or to entertain employees and clients with food, music and race car rides. Motion pictures such as "Days of Thunder," "Speedway" and "Stroker Ace" and even music videos like Tracy Lawrence's "If the Good Die Young" have been filmed at the speedway. Adding to rental dates are race team testing and automobile manufacturer research. Smith and Wheeler will quickly point out they have yet to complete their vision, and they continue to improve and expand the facility. More than 10,000 stadium-style seats, 20 new executive suites and 40 special 32-seat boxes were built in turn four in 1995. In May 1997, the Diamond Tower Terrace grandstand was opened along the backstretch to accommodate an additional 26,000 race fans for The Winston and Coca-Cola 600. In May 1998, an 11,000-seat expansion of the new Diamond Tower Terrace was completed, bringing the total seating capacity of Lowe's Motor Speedway to approximately 147,000. Then in May 1999, more than 10,000 new seats were completed in the Fourth Turn Terrace grandstand. A 10,860-seat expansion of the Ford grandstand on the frontstretch was completed in May 2000, bringing the speedway's total seating capacity to 167,000. These additions are all part of a long-term project calling for additional grandstand seating, infrastructure improvements, spectator amenities and the development of adjacent land for possible commercial real estate ventures. Building on the basic philosophy of keeping spectator and competitor comfort a high priority, Lowe's Motor Speedway continues to be a leading promoter and marketer of motorsports activities in the United States. SPRINT CUP CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY WINNERS
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| Date | Race Name | Pole Winner | Race Winner | Starting Pos. | Make | |
| 10/16/10 | Bank Of America 500 | Jeff Gordon | Jamie McMurray | 27 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/30/10 | Coca-Cola 600 | Ryan Newman | Kurt Busch | 2 | Dodge | |
| 10/17/09 | NASCAR Banking 500 | Jimmie Johnson | Jimmie Johnson | 1 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/25/09 | Coca-Cola 600 | Ryan Newman | David Reutimann | 21 | Toyota | |
| 10/11/08 | Bank of America 500 | Rained Out | Jeff Burton | 4 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/25/09 | Coca-Cola 600 | Kyle Busch | Kasey Kahne | 2 | Dodge | |
| 10/13/07 | Bank Of America 500 | Ryan Newman | Jeff Gordon | 4 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/27/07 | Coca-Cola 600 | Ryan Newman | Casey Mears | 16 | Chevrolet | |
| 10/13/06 | Bank Of America 500 | Scott Riggs | Kasey Kahne | 2 | Dodge | |
| 05/28/06 | Coca-Cola 600 | Scott Riggs | Kasey Kahne | 9 | Dodge | |
| 10/15/05 | UAWGM-Quality 500 | Elliott Sadler | Jimmie Johnson | 3 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/29/05 | Coca-Cola 600 | Ryan Newman | Jimmie Johnson | 5 | Chevrolet | |
| 10/16/04 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Ryan Newman | Jimmie Johnson | 9 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/30/04 | Coca-Cola 600 | Jimmie Johnson | Jimmie Johnson | 1 | Chevrolet | |
| 10/11/03 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Ryan Newman | Tony Stewart | 6 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/25/03 | Coca-Cola 600 | Ryan Newman | Jimmie Johnson | 37 | Chevrolet | |
| 10/13/02 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Rained Out | Jamie McMurray | 5 | Dodge | |
| 05/26/02 | Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 | Jimmie Johnson | Mark Martin | 25 | Ford | |
| 10/07/01 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Jimmy Spencer | Sterling Marlin | 13 | Dodge | |
| 05/27/01 | Coca-Cola 600 | Ryan Newman | Jeff Burton | 18 | Ford | |
| 10/08/00 | UAW/GM Quality 500 | Jeff Gordon | Bobby Labonte | 2 | Pontiac | |
| 05/28/00 | Coca-Cola 600 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Matt Kenseth | 21 | Ford | |
| 10/10/99 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Bobby Labonte | Jeff Gordon | 22 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/30/99 | Coca-Cola 600 | Bobby Labonte | Jeff Burton | 2 | Ford | |
| 10/04/98 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Derrike Cope | Mark Martin | 2 | Ford | |
| 05/24/98 | Coca-Cola 600 | Jeff Gordon | Jeff Gordon | 1 | Chevrolet | |
| 10/05/97 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Geoffrey Bodine | Dale Jarrett | 5 | Ford | |
| 05/25/97 | Coca-Cola 600 | Jeff Gordon | Jeff Gordon | 1 | Chevrolet | |
| 10/06/96 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Bobby Labonte | Terry Labonte | 16 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/26/96 | Coca-Cola 600 | Jeff Gordon | Dale Jarrett | 15 | Ford | |
| 10/06/74 | National 500 | David Pearson | David Pearson | 1 | Mercury | |
| 05/26/74 | World 600 | David Pearson | David Pearson | 1 | Mercury | |
| 10/07/73 | National 500 | David Pearson | Cale Yarborough | 2 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/27/73 | World 600 | Buddy Baker | Buddy Baker | 1 | Dodge | |
| 10/08/72 | National 500 | David Pearson | Bobby Allison | 4 | Chevrolet | |
| 05/28/72 | World 600 | Bobby Allison | Buddy Baker | 6 | Dodge |
TRACK RECORDS
Bobby Labonte 151.952 05|28|95
Sprint Cup 500-Mile Race Record
Jeff Gordon 160.306 10|10|99
Nationwide Race Record
Mark Martin 155.996 05|25|96
Truck Race Record
Kyle Busch 124.845 05|19|06
Sprint Cup Qualifying Record
Elliott Sadler 193.216 2005
Nationwide Qualifying Record
Kasey Kahne 186.735 2005
Truck Qualifying Record
Mike Skinner 183.051 2005
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| 2010 Coca-Cola 600 Winner Kurt Busch |
2010 Banking America 500 Winner Jamie McMurray |
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