Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
short track venue located in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...
. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all-concrete surface, two
pit roads, and
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks. The track is billed as the "World's Fastest Half-Mile"
Overview
Bristol Motor Speedway is the fourth-
largest sports venue in America and the tenth largest in the world, seating up to 153,000 people. The speeds are far lower than is typical on most NASCAR
oval tracks, but they are very fast compared to other short tracks due to the high banking. Those features make for a considerable amount of car contact at the NASCAR races as the initial starting grid of 40 vehicles each in the Cup and Xfinity Series, and 32 in the Truck Series, extends almost halfway around the track, meaning slower qualifiers begin the race almost half a lap down.
The drag strip at this facility has long been nicknamed "Thunder Valley". Both
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
races held at Bristol are for 500 laps; the spring race (historically a day race; however, the 2006 race ended under nighttime conditions because of Standard Time and the late afternoon start) is sponsored by area grocery chain
Food City and considered one of NASCAR's top 10 annual races. The late summer race (the popular
night-time race, considered "the toughest ticket in NASCAR" to obtain) has rotated among several sponsors. From 2001 to 2015,
Newell Rubbermaid sponsored the race, first under its
Sharpie brand (2001–2009) and then its
Irwin Tools brand (2010–2015). From 2016 to 2021,
Bass Pro Shops became primary sponsor of the summer race, with the
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...
as a secondary sponsor. In 2022,
Bass Pro Shops became the sole entitlement sponsor of Bristol's September NASCAR Playoff Race.
Bristol is a fertile ground for other levels and types of racing;
NASCAR Xfinity Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to ...
races often draw more than 100,000 spectators, making it one of the best-drawing Xfinity venues, and resulted in Fox televising the race nationally from 2004 to 2006 and
ABC doing the same in 2007 and 2008.
In 2004, it was the first Busch Series race of the season televised on broadcast network television, and the race, which had been 150 laps in 1982, 200 laps in 1984, and 250 laps since 1990, was a 300-lap race in 2006.
The
Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of ...
ran a stand-alone race in June from 1995 to 1999 with the NASCAR Autozone Elite Division, Southeast Series. Since 2003, the race has been a midweek (Wednesday) night race as part of the August night race weekend. In 2009, the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the
NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour ran a combined race prior to the truck race. In 2017, the race was for the Whelen Modified Tour after NASCAR absorbed the Southern Modified Tour into the Modified Tour prior to the 2017 season.
Angle of banking
The track long advertised its banking as 36 degrees, which at one time made it the most steeply banked track used by NASCAR. However, BMS now lists its banking at 24 to 30 degrees, reflecting the results of the track's most recent resurfacing in 2007.
Even before the resurfacing, there was some dispute as to the accuracy of the measurement. In the 1980s, ESPN often claimed the turns were banked at 35 degrees during television telecast of events at the track. In an interview with ''Stock Car Racings Larry Cothren, driver
Ryan Newman openly disputed the measurement of the banking of Bristol Motor Speedway's turns. Newman's crew measured the banking during a test session to aid with setups, and found that the turns were banked 26 degrees, rather than the advertised 36 degrees. A Camping World Truck Series open test noted the banking had dropped following resurfacing, to 22–27 degrees, in a variable banking configuration.
Pit roads
Another anomaly is that the short overall length means that there are two sets of pits, which also prevents a garage from being built due to limited space. Until 2002, slower starters were relegated to those on the backstretch. That year, the rules were changed to form essentially one long pit road. Thus, Bristol has unique rules about pit road — during caution, drivers who are wanting to pit must enter pit road in turn two, drive all the way down the back stretch through the apron of turns three and four and down the front stretch, exiting pit road in turn one. This rule eliminated the inherent disadvantage of pitting on the back stretch. During green flag pit stops, cars with pit stalls on the back stretch enter the pits in turn two and exit in turn three; those with pits on the front stretch enter in turn four and exit in turn one. Since the new pit rules were instituted, several drivers (most notably
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Moto ...
) have made major mistakes during green flag pit stops by driving through both pit roads when only one is necessary for green flag pit stops.
Track history
Bristol Motor Speedway could very easily have opened in 1961 under a different name. The first proposed site for the speedway was in
Piney Flats, Tennessee Piney Flats is an unincorporated community in Sullivan County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is part of the Kingsport– Bristol (TN)– Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kin ...
, but, according to Carl Moore, who built the track along with Larry Carrier and R. G. Pope, the idea met local opposition. So the track that could have been called Piney Flats International Speedway was built up the road on U.S. Highway 11-E in Bristol. The land upon which Bristol Motor Speedway is built was formerly part of Gray's Dairy, at one point one of the largest dairies in the eastern half of the United States. Larry Carrier and Carl Moore traveled to
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including t ...
in 1960 to watch a race and it was then that they decided to build a speedway in northeast Tennessee. However, they wanted a smaller model of CMS, something with a more intimate setting and opted to erect a facility instead of mirroring the track in Charlotte.
Work began on what was then called Bristol International Speedway in 1960 and it took approximately one year to finish. Carrier, Moore and Pope scratched many ideas for the track on envelopes and brown paper bags.
Purchase of the land on which BMS now sits, as well as initial construction of the track, cost approximately
$600,000. The entire layout for BMS covered and provided parking for more than 12,000 cars. The track itself was a perfect , measuring wide on the straightaways, wide in the turns, and the turns were banked at 22 degrees.
Seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...
for the very first NASCAR race at BMS – held on July 30, 1961 – was 18,000. Prior to this race the speedway hosted weekly races. The first driver on the track for practice on July 27, 1961, was
Tiny Lund in his
Pontiac. The second driver out was
David Pearson David or Dave Pearson may refer to:
* David Pearson (librarian) (born 1955), British librarian and scholar
* David Pearson (racing driver) (1934–2018), American car racing champion
* David Pearson (scientist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, a ...
.
Fred Lorenzen won the pole for the first race at BMS with a speed of . Atlanta's
Jack Smith won the inaugural event – the Volunteer 500 – at BMS. However, Smith was not in the driver's seat of the Pontiac when the race ended. Smith drove the first 290 laps then had to have
Johnny Allen, also of Atlanta, take over as his relief driver. The two shared the $3,225 purse. The total purse for the race was $16,625. Country music star
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...
, who was 17 at the time, sang the national anthem for the first race at BMS. A total of 42 cars started the first race at BMS but only 19 finished.
In the fall of 1969, BMS was reshaped and re-measured. The turns were banked at 36 degrees and it became a oval.
The speedway was sold after the 1976 season to Lanny Hester and Gary Baker. In the spring of 1978, the track name was changed to Bristol International Raceway. In August that year, the first
night race was held on the oval, one that would become one of the most popular and highly anticipated events on the Cup Series calendar.
On April 1, 1982, Lanny Hester sold his half of the speedway to Warner Hodgdon. On July 6, 1983, Hodgdon completed a 100 percent purchase of Bristol Motor Speedway, as well as
Nashville Speedway
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand N ...
, in a buy-sell agreement with Baker. Hodgdon named Larry Carrier as the track's general manager. On January 11, 1985, Hodgdon filed for bankruptcy. Afterwards, Larry Carrier formally took possession of the speedway and covered all outstanding debts.
For many years, teams were unable to park their transporters inside the infield, nor did the track have any significant garage area. Team transporters were parked in a lot outside of the track. During racing periods, crews and participants were landlocked by the track, and thus, unable to return to the transporters for spare parts, repairs, or rest. In the early 1990s, the infield was reconfigured and completely paved. Teams began parking the transporters in an orchestrated, extremely tight arrangement that takes several hours, and highly skilled drivers, to accomplish. Teams are now able to work out of their transporters in the same fashion as other facilities.
In 1992, the speedway abandoned the asphalt surface that it had used since its inception, switching to the concrete surface it is now famous for.
In 1995, Lights were installed around the track to run races with permanently installed lights instead of the use of trucks with temporary lighting which was used for the
Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race from 1978 to 1994.
On January 22, 1996, Larry Carrier sold the speedway to Bruton Smith's
Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI), at a purchase price of $26 million. At the time of the sale, the facility seated 71,000. On May 28 of the same year, the track's name was officially changed to Bristol Motor Speedway. By August, 15,000 seats had been added bringing the seating capacity to 86,000.
BMS continued to grow and by April 1997, at 118,000 seats, it had surpassed the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
's 102,000 seat
Neyland Stadium
Neyland Stadium ( ), is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Foot ...
to become the largest sports arena in Tennessee. The speedway also boasted 22 new skyboxes. For the 1998 Goody's 500, the speedway featured more than 131,000 grandstand seats and 100 skyboxes. Improvements to the speedway since Smith took possession are in excess of $50 million. Under Smith's ownership, all seating sections have been renamed for past race winners and NASCAR champions.
The capacity for the 2000 Food City 500 was 147,000 as the Kulwicki Terrace and Kulwicki Tower were completed. Both were named after NASCAR star
Alan Kulwicki, who was the reigning Cup Series champion when he died in a plane crash in 1993 while on his way to the spring race at Bristol, which he won the previous year. As a tribute to retiring star
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...
, the entire Turn 3 and 4 sections were renamed in his honor in 2000, including a section of seats in Turn 4 near the start-finish line marked as alcohol free. (Waltrip refused to drive for a team in 1987 because its sponsor was associated with alcoholic beverages.) Sections were also named in honor of the Allison family and
David Pearson David or Dave Pearson may refer to:
* David Pearson (librarian) (born 1955), British librarian and scholar
* David Pearson (racing driver) (1934–2018), American car racing champion
* David Pearson (scientist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, a ...
as part of the renaming of grandstands.
In both 2000 and 2001, the track was temporarily converted to a dirt track to host the
World of Outlaws' Channellock Challenge. The conversion involved moving of red clay onto the track's surface. of sawdust were laid down first to cover the paved surface. The track was widened by to and the banking was reduced from 36° to somewhere between 22° to 24°. While the races proved to be very popular, the process of installing and removing a temporary surface required 14,000 truckloads of material to be shipped in and out of the track which wore heavily on the roads around the track.
As has been the case since the SMI purchase of BMS, improvements continued in and around the Speedway in 2002. The season saw the addition of a long-awaited infield pedestrian tunnel, allowing access into and out of the infield during on-track activity. Also in 2002, a new building was constructed in the infield to house driver meetings. That same year also witnessed the christening of a new BMS Victory Lane atop the newly constructed building.
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
won the
2002 Food City 500 on March 24 and became the first Cup winner in the new BMS winner's circle. Additional improvements in 2002 included new scoreboards located on the facing of the suites in Turns 2 and 3. On Monday, August 26, 2002, work began on the most ambitious construction project since SMI's purchase of BMS in 1996. The entire backstretch, including the Speedway's last remaining concrete seats, was demolished. The new backstretch increased the venue's seating capacity to more than 160,000. The new backstretch includes three levels of seating and is topped with 52 luxury skybox suites. These seats are also named for leading NASCAR figures, with
Richard Petty
Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notab ...
,
Cale Yarborough
William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...
and
Junior Johnson each having a section of the new seats named for them;
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
was given a section on top in his memory.
A 5,000 seat section of the turn 1 and 2 grandstand, on top of the Alan Kulwicki Grandstand, is now named the
Rusty Wallace
Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful car ...
Tower. Additional improvements included a scoring pylon with a four-sided video screen akin to those in sports arenas hanging from their ceilings; after the
2007 Food City 500
The 2007 Food City 500 was the fifth race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season, and was run on Sunday, March 25, 2007, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This marked the debut of the Car of Tomorrow.
Overview
The race was histor ...
, a resurfacing of the entire concrete track along with widening the track and reshaping the turns with variable banking, which was completed for the
2007 Sharpie 500 in August and their support events in the Busch (now Xfinity Series) and Truck Series.
The 2006
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
/
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
animated film ''
Cars'' used Bristol Motor Speedway as the inspiration for the fictional Motor Speedway of the South, featured in the film's opening scene. ''Cars'' director and NASCAR fan
John Lasseter made it a 1-mile track, compared with Bristol's half-mile, to make the straightaways little longer for some of the scenes and allow for fans in the infield.
A
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
was set in August 2008 when the sell-out crowd completed the largest
crowd-wave in history.
Another world record was set in August 2009 for the largest karaoke with a sold-out crowd. Later, when the race was red flagged, the crowd performed the wave again, apparently tying the world record.
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, during the NASCAR "Saturday Night Showdown", where
retired
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
NASCAR drivers drove in a 35-lap race for
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
, a terrifying crash involving
Larry Pearson and
Charlie Glotzbach ended up in a near-tragedy. The race was put under immediate
red flag Red flag may refer to:
* Red flag (idiom), a metaphor for something signalling a problem
** Red flag warning, a term used by meteorologists
** Red flag (battle ensign), maritime flag signaling an intention to give battle with no quarter (fight to ...
. Pearson spun out in turn 2, and as his car was sliding down the track, Glotzbach exited turn 2 and rammed into the driver's door of Pearson's car. As Glotzbach climbed out of his car and went to the infield care center, Pearson was
unconscious in his car while rescue workers sawed off the roof of the car to get him out. After they got Pearson out, he regained consciousness, as reported by his brothers who talked to him. They also reported that Larry was able to move his arms around. Pearson was air lifted to a nearby hospital. Later, Glotzbach was driven to the same hospital. Before the race started back up, NASCAR legend
David Pearson David or Dave Pearson may refer to:
* David Pearson (librarian) (born 1955), British librarian and scholar
* David Pearson (racing driver) (1934–2018), American car racing champion
* David Pearson (scientist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, a ...
(Larry's father), who was also racing that day, withdrew from the race and went down to the hospital to see his son.
On the week ending August 21, 2010,
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
became the first driver ever to win races in all three NASCAR national series during a single race meeting.
He began the historic week by winning the Truck race on Wednesday.
Two days later, he won the Nationwide race following an incident with
Brad Keselowski. Late in the race, the two raced for the lead side-by-side before Keselowski bumped Busch during a pass. Busch responded with a harder bump to Keselowski, spinning the latter out. After the race, the two took verbal potshots at one another. Then, during driver introductions immediately before the Cup series race, Keselowski introduced himself and then shouted "Kyle Busch is an ass!" Ultimately, there were no on-track incidents between the two in the Cup race.
Busch also exchanged words with
David Reutimann after the Cup race.
Busch would repeat this feat at Bristol in 2017, again winning all 3 races during a single race weekend.
In 2016 the scoring pylon was replaced by a large 4-sided display hung by cables over the center of the infield. Named "Colossus TV", the track claims it is the largest outdoor-hung display of its kind in the world, with each screen measuring by .
BMS has announced a new event called the Short Track U.S. Nationals in May 2017.
The event will feature five classes of cars that are featured at local weekly tracks:
Super Late Models
A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.)
The precise definition ...
, Pro (Crate) Late Models, Southern
Modifieds, Late Model Stock, Street Stocks, and Compact (4 cylinder) cars.
Champion Racing Association will be the lead sanctioning body of the event. The Super Late Model class is co-sanctioned with
CRA Super Series, CARS Super Late Model Tour, and Southern Super Series cars.
Every year since 2016,
PJ1 TrackBite is applied on the bottom of the track in an attempt to restore racing in the bottom groove that has been lost with changes to the banking in 2007 and 2012.
Bristol was again converted to a dirt track in the spring of 2021. The Bristol Dirt Nationals super late model race was held on March 15–20; the
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
Food City Dirt Race and
NASCAR Truck Series Pinty's Dirt Truck Race will be held on March 29; the
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Bristol Bash will be held on April 8–10; and the
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Bristol Throwdown will be held on April 22–24.
Bristol Dragway
In addition to the speedway, there is a
dragstrip
A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to ...
that hosts an annual
NHRA
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...
event each year, the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Prior to its status as an NHRA national event track, the Bristol Dragway was the flagship strip of the rival
IHRA organization; the strip's owner Larry Carrier formed the IHRA at the Bristol Dragway in November 1970. The relationship ended when Bruton Smith took over its ownership. The dragstrip has long been nicknamed ''Thunder Valley'' due to its location and surrounding scenery.
Bristol Dragway also hosts the Eastern Conference Finals for the
Summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...
Jr. Drag Racing League, the AMRA Thunder Valley Nitro Nationals, the Fall Fling, World Footbrake Challenge, and numerous bracket racing and street car events throughout the year.
Non-motorsports usage
In the fall of 2002, students from
Sullivan East High School
Sullivan East High School is a 9th–12th grade public high school located in Bluff City, Tennessee, United States.
History
The school opened after the consolidation of Bluff City High School, Mary Hughes High School, and Holston Valley High ...
in
Bluff City, Tennessee, attended the skyboxes at the Speedway as temporary school facilities, due to an outbreak of
black mold that closed the school for nearly 6 weeks.
In October 2010,
Remote Area Medical
Remote Area Medical (RAM) is a non-profit provider of mobile medical clinics delivering free dental, vision, and medical care (as well as veterinary services when available) to under-served and uninsured individuals.
Founded by British philanthro ...
held a health clinic on the infield of the track, providing free vision, dental and general-medical care to people who do not have medical insurance. The free clinic at Bristol Motor Speedway has become an annual event with Tri-Cities Remote Area Medical continuing the service on the speedway's infield in the Spring of 2012 and again in Spring 2013.
During the holiday season, Bristol Motor Speedway hosts ''
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainl ...
Speedway in Lights'', an event featuring
christmas light displays along a 5-mile route around the Speedway and its grounds, as well as other activities. The event benefits various local charities.
Bristol Motor Speedway has opened their campgrounds to evacuees of hurricanes, including during
Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Hurricane Ma ...
in 2017,
Hurricane Florence in 2018, and
Hurricane Dorian
Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, which became the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and tied for strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin. It is also rega ...
in 2019.
In early 2021, Bristol was one of several NASCAR tracks that were used as distribution facilities for the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
vaccine.
In the summer of 2021, the racetrack played host to a
MrBeast
Jimmy Donaldson (born May 7, 1998), better known as MrBeast, is an American YouTube personality, credited with pioneering a genre of YouTube videos that centers on expensive stunts. His MrBeast YouTube channel had 112.2 million subscribers a ...
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
video where 10 contestants from a previous video played a
game of tag inside of the speedway where the winner won $500,000.
Football
In 1961, the track hosted a
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...
preseason game between the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...
and
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...
.
In 2005, track owner Bruton Smith made a public offer of $20 million apiece to the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
(UT) and
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
to schedule a non-conference
college football game between the
Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegi ...
and
Virginia Tech Hokies. Smith suggested that grass could be grown in the infield section of the racetrack. Virginia Tech showed much interest and nearly agreed to the proposal, but UT, on the other hand, showed little or no interest and in fact avoided the offer which made this possibility ultimately fall by the wayside.
On October 14, 2013, after years of attempts to schedule a game, Virginia Tech, UT, and Bristol Motor Speedway announced plans for the game to be held on Saturday, September 10, 2016. Organizers envisioned attendance for the non-conference game, dubbed the ''
Battle at Bristol'', to draw 150,000 spectators, which would surpass the current NCAA record for highest single-game attendance of
115,109 then held by
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
. Bristol Motor Speedway's location near the
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...
/Tennessee state line placed the game about from the Virginia Tech campus in
Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of ...
, and about from the UT campus in
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...
. The game, won 45–24 by the Volunteers, drew an announced crowd of 156,990, breaking the previous record by more than 40,000.
The football field remained in place for one week after the Tennessee–Virginia Tech game. On September 17, the local
East Tennessee State
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a Public university, public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an instit ...
Buccaneers played their scheduled
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...
home game against the
Western Carolina Catamounts
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...
at BMS, an event billed as ''Bucs at Bristol''. This was ETSU's first
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...
home game since dropping football after the 2003 season, not reinstating the sport until 2015. The Buccaneers came back from a 21–3 second-quarter deficit to win 34–31.
Races
Current
*
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
**
Food City Dirt Race (1961–present)
**
Bass Pro Shops Night Race
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car racing, stock car race held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. It is one of two NASCAR Cup Series races held at Bristol, the other being the Food City Dirt Race, but it ...
(1961–present)
*
NASCAR Xfinity Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to ...
**
Food City 300 (1982–present)
*
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
**
Pinty's Dirt Truck Race (2021–present)
**
UNOH 200 (1995–1999, 2003–present)
*
ARCA Menards Series East
**
Zombie Auto 150 (2012–present)
*
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series
** NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals (1999–present)
Former
*
ASA National Tour
The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt and dirt tracks in th ...
(1982–1983)
*
ARTGO Challenge Series (1987)
*
ASA Late Model Series (2007–2008)
*
ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards
** Tennessee 500 (1968–1969)
*
CARS Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series
** Food City 150 (2004–2008, 2010)
* Frank Kimmel Street Stock Nationals (2008)
*
INEX raceCeiver Legends Car Series/Bandoleros
** Battle of Bristol (2007–2008)
* Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Car Series (2011)
*
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
All Pro Series
The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series was a NASCAR-sanctioned amateur/semi-pro late model stock car racing series based in the Southeastern United States. The series was formerly known as the Slim Jim All Pro Series; it was founded ...
(1982–1983, 1994–1997, 1999–2002)
*
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
Goody's Dash Series
The ISCARS Dash Touring Series (previously known as the NASCAR Baby Grand National, Goody's Dash Series and IPOWER Dash Series among others) was a stock car racing series created by NASCAR in 1973, initially running solely at North Wilkesboro Sp ...
(1975, 1978–1981, 1986–1987, 1994–2003)
*
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
Grand Touring (1968)
*
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
Late Model Sportsman National Championship (1972, 1977–1978)
*
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (2009-2018)
*
Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship (2013)
*
Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship Lites (2013)
* Rolling Thunder Modifieds (2011)
* UARA-STARS Late Model Series (2004–2005, 2007–2009)
*
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars
** Channellock Challenge (2000–2001)
Lap Records
The fastest official race lap records at Bristol Motor Speedway are listed as:
Records
* Overall fastest lap: Brian Gerster, 12.742 s [] October 1, 2011
* NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: Ryan Blaney, 14.528 s [], April 5, 2019
* NASCAR Cup Series Race (500 laps):
Charlie Glotzbach, 2 h 38 min 12 s , July 11, 1971
* NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying:
Kyle Larson, 14.992 s , April 22, 2017
* NASCAR Xfinity Series Race (300 laps):
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
, 2:13:59 [], March 25, 2006
* NASCAR Xfinity Series Race (250 laps): Harry Gant, 1 h 26 min 2 s [], April 4, 1992
* NASCAR Truck Series Qualifying:
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
, 14.827 s [], August 16, 2017
* NASCAR Truck Series Race (200 laps): Travis Kvapil, 1 h 12 min 1 s [], August 20, 2003
* NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Qualifying: Todd Szegedy, 14.425 s [], 2016
* World of Outlaw Sprint Cars: Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.326 s [], 2021
*
ASA Late Model Series Qualifying: Justin Larson, 15.147 s [], 2008
*On March 25, 2007, the first race featuring
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
's new car design, the "
Car of Tomorrow" (COT) was run at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Moto ...
won the first ever pole award in a Car of Tomorrow, and
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
won the race, becoming the first winner in the COT.
*On August 25, 2008, at the Sharpie 500, Bristol Motor Speedway set the Guinness World Record for the Largest Card Stunt performed at one time. The stunt was performed by the
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
fans who attended the event during the National Anthem. The stunt started with an American Flag that covered the entire stands during the National Anthem and was then followed by another stunt which was an advertisement for a Sprint Nextel Fan Sweepstakes.
*Bristol Motor Speedway is a true amphitheater, being completely enclosed by seating, and holds 165,000 people, making it the largest in the world. In comparison, the
Roman Colosseum's seating capacity was 50,000 people and the
Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus ( Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and ...
, a
hippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used ...
, could accommodate an estimated 150,000 spectators.
NASCAR Cup Series records
(As of 4/3/19)
* from minimum 5 starts
References
External links
*
*
Bristol Motor Speedway Pageo
NASCAR.com- Local area information, track specs, mapping, news and more.
- Current and Past Bristol Motor Speedway News
Bristol Motor Speedway Seating Chart
{{Authority control
NASCAR tracks
ARCA Menards Series tracks
Motorsport venues in Tennessee
Landmarks in Tennessee
Bristol, Tennessee
East Tennessee
NHRA Division 2 drag racing venues
NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway
Buildings and structures in Sullivan County, Tennessee
Tourist attractions in Sullivan County, Tennessee
Tourist attractions in Bristol, Tennessee
1961 establishments in Tennessee
Sports venues completed in 1961