Columbus Motor Speedway facts for kids
| Location | 1841 Williams Rd Columbus, Ohio, 43207 |
|---|---|
| Time zone | UTC−5 / −4 (DST) |
| Coordinates | 39°53'12.0"N 82°56'35.9"W |
| Capacity | 5000 |
| Owner | Nuckles family |
| Operator | Nuckles family |
| Broke ground | 1945 |
| Opened | 1946 |
| Closed | 2016 |
| Major events | Whelen All-American Series NASCAR K&N Pro Series East: NAPA 150 (2011–2016) ARCA Menards Series (1982, 1993) |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 0.53 km (0.33 mi) |
| Turns | 2 |
| Banking | Turns: 8° |
| Figure 8 | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Turns | 2 |
| Banking | Turns: 8° |
| Website | www.columbusspeedway.com |
The Columbus Motor Speedway (CMS) was a popular race track located just south of Columbus, Ohio. It was a 1/3-mile asphalt oval, meaning it was shaped like an oval and covered in asphalt. It also had a special track for figure-eight racing, which is a unique style of car racing.
Contents
The Story of Columbus Motor Speedway
How the Track Began
In 1945, two people named John Nuckles and Robert Roseberry bought a large piece of land. They wanted to build a race track there. The track first opened in 1946. Back then, it was a dirt track and mostly used for motorcycle races.
A few years later, in 1950, lights were added to the track. This meant races could happen at night! In 1957, the track was paved with asphalt. This happened because car racing, especially stock car racing, was becoming very popular. After the paving, Robert Roseberry sold his part of the track to John Nuckles. The Nuckles family then owned and ran the speedway for many years.
Famous Drivers and Exciting Races
Many famous drivers raced at Columbus Motor Speedway. Some of them, like Neal Sceva, Dick Freeman, Benny Parsons, and Ralph O'Day, became well-known because of their races here.
The track was one of only three in Ohio that had a special agreement with NASCAR. This meant it could host official NASCAR races, like the Whelen All-American Series.
Besides the official races, the speedway also held many fun and exciting events. These included:
- Trailer races
- School bus figure-eight races
- Demolition derbies (where cars crash into each other)
- "Roll over" contests
- Monster truck stunt shows
- "Powder-puff" races (often for women drivers)
- NASCAR "legends" races, which featured famous drivers. These "legends" races eventually stopped because it became too expensive to have the famous drivers participate.
Major NASCAR and ARCA Events
From 2011 to 2016, Columbus Motor Speedway hosted a big NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event called the NAPA 150. Many future NASCAR stars won these races, including Bubba Wallace, Cale Conley, Daniel Suárez, Sergio Peña, Rico Abreu, and Justin Haley. The track also hosted a NASCAR Midwest Series race in 2004, which was won by Justin Diercks.
The ARCA Menards Series also held two races at the track, one in 1982 and another in 1993.
Why the Track Closed
The Columbus Motor Speedway closed its doors at the end of the 2016 racing season. The village of Obetz bought the land from the Nuckles family. They wanted to use the space to build new facilities for the Columbus Crew SC soccer team and a local rugby team. Today, a sports complex called Fortress Obetz stands where the speedway used to be.
2009 Platform Incident
On April 11, 2009, something unusual happened at the speedway. A concrete platform that held the announcer's box collapsed. This happened shortly after the gates opened for the season's first event. One person was briefly stuck in the fallen pieces, and six people had minor injuries. Local emergency workers came to help, and the races for that evening were canceled. After the incident, the platform was repaired and made stronger.
