Kentucky Speedway facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Kentucky Speedway

Kentucky Speedway's logo
Location	Sparta, Kentucky, United States
Time zone	UTC−5 / −4 (DST)
Coordinates	38°42′35″N 84°54′58″W / 38.70964°N 84.91624°W / 38.70964; -84.91624
Capacity	69,000-107,000 (depending on configuration)
Owner	Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Broke ground	July 18, 1998
Opened	June 16, 2000
Construction cost	$153 million
Major events	NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco 300 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 ARCA Menards Series Crosley 150
Tri-oval
Surface	Asphalt
Length	1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Turns 1 and 2: 17° Turns 3 and 4: 14° Tri-Oval: 8–10° (Progressive) Straight: 4°
Race lap record	221.390 miles per hour (Sarah Fisher, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 2002, IndyCar Series)

Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway located in Sparta, Kentucky. It has hosted exciting races from ARCA, NASCAR, and Indy Racing League every year since it opened in 2000.

The track is currently owned and run by Speedway Motorsports, Inc.. Before 2008, Jerry Carroll and four other investors owned most of Kentucky Speedway. The track can hold between 69,000 and 107,000 fans, depending on how it's set up.

Kentucky Speedway has been home to races like the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, IndyCar Series, and the top-level NASCAR Cup Series.

Track History and Development

Building the Speedway

A view of the track from outside turn 3.

On January 8, 1998, Jerry Carroll announced plans to build a large racing facility. It would cost $153 million and be located in Sparta, Kentucky. Construction began five months later on July 18, 1998.

While building was underway, it was announced that the speedway would open with an ARCA race in 2000. Soon after, the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series also planned a race there. Testing started with Bill Baird in an ARCA car. In November 1999, it was confirmed that a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race would also happen in 2000. The speedway added more races for its first year, including a second ARCA event.

A few months later, the track needed to be repaved because of bumps caused by winter weather. Kentucky Speedway officially opened on June 16, 2000, with a Slim Jim All Pro Series event. The next day, the first major race, a Craftsman Truck Series event, was held and won by Greg Biffle. In August, Buddy Lazier won the first IndyCar Series race. On August 29, 2000, NASCAR announced that the track would also host a Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) race in 2001. A year after opening, Kevin Harvick won the first Busch Series race at Kentucky.

Changes and Challenges (2002–2011)

In 2002, during an Infiniti Pro Series (now Indy Lights) race, driver Jason Priestley had a serious accident. He suffered a concussion and broken bones.

Years later, in 2005, Jerry Carroll tried to get a Nextel Cup Series race for the track. He even filed a lawsuit against NASCAR and the International Speedway Corporation (ISC). He claimed they were stopping new tracks from getting Cup Series events. The lawsuit lasted three years but was dismissed in January 2008.

In May 2008, Speedway Motorsports Inc. bought the speedway from Jerry Carroll. Bruton Smith, who owned Speedway Motorsports, invested $50 million. He hoped to bring a NASCAR Cup Series event to Kentucky by 2009, but it didn't happen that year.

The speedway continued to host Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series, IndyCar, and Firestone Indy Lights Series races. In August 2010, it was finally announced that Kentucky Speedway would host its first NASCAR Cup Series event, the Quaker State 400, in 2011.

Before this big race, Kentucky Speedway made major upgrades. They expanded the seating capacity from 66,000 to 107,000. They also changed the pit road and added 200 acres for camping.

The first Quaker State 400 was held on July 9, 2011, and Kyle Busch won it. However, the event had huge traffic problems. About 20,000 people couldn't get to the race because of massive traffic jams on Interstate 71. Speedway Motorsports apologized and worked to fix the issues. They bought more land for parking and worked with the state police to improve traffic flow for future races.

Recent Years (2012–2020)

Early morning on race day at Kentucky Speedway.

Brad Keselowski spinning out during the 2013 Quaker State 400.

In 2012, Kentucky Speedway did not host an IndyCar event for the first time. Brad Keselowski won the second NASCAR Cup Series race there. The Camping World Truck Series also lost one of its two annual races, focusing on the triple-header weekend with the Cup race.

In 2013, the Cup race was moved from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain. Matt Kenseth won, making it the only time the race was held during the day. The speedway also added a second NASCAR Xfinity Series race in September. Ryan Blaney won this event. By 2014, NASCAR races were a regular part of the track's schedule. Drivers often praised the track's rough and aged surface.

Brad Keselowski won the Cup race in 2014, leading most of the laps. He became the first driver to win two Cup races at Kentucky. Kyle Busch, the first winner, then won three races in a row from 2015 to 2017. The 2015 race was the last for Jeff Gordon at Kentucky before he retired. He finished seventh, making Kentucky the only track where he didn't win a Cup race in his career.

In December 2015, it was announced that the speedway would be repaved and partly changed in 2016. This was done to fix drainage problems after a rainy 2015 weekend. Turns 1 and 2 were narrowed and their banking was increased from 14 to 17 degrees. Turns 3 and 4 stayed at 14 degrees. New safety barriers (SAFER Barriers) were also added along the outside wall.

The updated track was first used for the July 2016 NASCAR weekend. Brad Keselowski won his third race there, making him the only driver to win at the speedway in even-numbered years (2012, 2014, 2016). In 2017, Martin Truex, Jr. became the fourth driver to win the race.

In 2018, Kentucky lost its separate Xfinity Series race date. The 2018 race weekend started with the Truck Series race, won by Louisville native Ben Rhodes. This was the first Truck Series win for a Kentucky driver since 2011. Christopher Bell won the Xfinity Series race, and Martin Truex Jr. won the 2018 Quaker State 400. This was Truex's second win in a row at Kentucky.

In the 2019 Quaker State 400, Kurt Busch became the first and only Chevrolet driver to win at Kentucky.

On September 29, 2020, it was reported that Kentucky Speedway would not be on the 2021 schedule for NASCAR's three main series (Cup, Xfinity, Truck).

Track Length Measurements

Speedway Oval

The exact length of the track has been measured differently by different racing series. NASCAR's timing and scoring system used a length of 1.50 miles (2.4 km). The Indy Racing League (IRL) also used this length for their first race in 2000. However, starting in 2002, IRL's timing and scoring used a slightly different length of 1.48 miles (2.38 km) after remeasuring the track.

NASCAR Cup Series Winners

Images for kids

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  Kentucky Speedway grandstands.

See also

In Spanish: Kentucky Speedway para niños

• Kentucky Speedway race results at Racing-Reference
• Super High Resolution image from Windows Live Local