Mobile International Speedway is a 1/2-mile paved

oval track Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traff ...

along U.S. Highway 90 in Irvington,

Mobile County Mobile County ( ) is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the second most-populous county in the state after Jefferson County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 414,809. Its county seat is Mobile, wh ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It was built by Walter "Skip" Wetjen, and opened in 1965.

History

During the golden age of stock car racing, the track held races with the likes of Gene Tapia, Wayne Niedecken Sr., Phil Wendt, and other

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 ...

drivers. Longtime stock car driver

Red Farmer Charles "Red" Farmer (born October 15, 1932) is a former NASCAR race car driver. He is a member of the Alabama Gang. Racing career His first race was at Opa-locka Speedway near Miami, Florida in a 1934 Ford in 1948. He became famous as a member ...

won his 500th feature race at the track. From 1966 to 1968 the track hosted open-wheel racing and held the annual World 300 race for Supermodified racing, which attracted competitors that included notable drivers such as

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...

, Dale Hammac and Armond Holley. In the 1980s, the track hosted races sanctioned by All Pro Stock, ASA, NASCAR Grand American, NASCAR All-American Challenge Series, and NASCAR All Pro Stock Car. They included drivers

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...

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 care ...

Dave Mader III David Mader III (born June 30, 1955) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 63 Chevrolet SS for Spraker Racing Enterprises. He is a former competitor in all three of ...

, Ronnie Sanders,

Mike Cope Mike Cope (born May 8, 1962) is a retired American stock car racing driver. A two-time champion of the NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series, he also competed in the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He is no relation to Dayton ...

Freddy Fryar Freddy Fryar (February 15, 1935 – April 29, 2020) was an American stock car racing, stock car racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Grand National and Winston Cup Series between 1956 in NASCAR, 1956 and 19 ...

, Junior Niedecken,

Jody Ridley Jody Ridley (born May 19, 1942) is a former NASCAR driver. He won the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award and one race at Dover International Speedway the next year, the only Cup victory for Donlavey Racing. His career statistics ...

and others. More recently, the track has been home to a number of rising

and ARCA drivers including Rick Crawford, Kevin Swindell (a development driver for Ray Evernham),

Bubba Pollard Andrew "Bubba" Pollard (born March 16, 1987) is an American stock car racing driver. He currently competes in super late model racing, driving the No. 26 Ford for his own team, and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East, driving the No. 17 ...

(of Roush Racing: Driver X), Cale Gale and

Grant Enfinger Grant McArthur Enfinger (born January 22, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. Before moving up to the Truck S ...

. Kevin Swindell holds the all-time track record. The

ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nation ...

held the ARCA Mobile 200 at the track from 2012 to 2015, all of them won by local drivers: 1 win for Cale Gale and 3 for Enfinger. The

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly Busch East Series, Busch North Series, Camping World East Series, and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and ...

held the Mobile 150 there in 2016. Also, the

NASCAR Southeast 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 ...

hosted 9 races at Mobile International Speedway, between 1991 and 2001. The CARS Hooters Pro Cup Series also had run three races at the facility, between 1998 and 1999.

Current races

* Southern Super Series ** TBA

Film and television

Opening scenes from the 2009 film ''

The Final Destination ''The Final Destination'' (also known as ''Final Destination 4'') is a 2009 American 3D supernatural horror film written by Eric Bress and directed by David R. Ellis. It is the fourth installment in the ''Final Destination'' film series and ...

'' were shot at the track.See, Starling, Bill, The Final Destination shoot scenes at Mobile International Speedway, ''Mobile Register'', August 27, 2009, found online at http://photos.al.com/mobile-press-register/2009/08/final_destination_4_shoot_scen_9.html

Notes

External links

Official Speedway WebsiteMobile International Speedway archive
at Racing-Reference {{CARS Pro Cup racetracks NASCAR tracks ARCA Menards Series tracks Motorsport venues in Alabama Sports venues in Mobile, Alabama Tourist attractions in Mobile County, Alabama Sports venues completed in 1965 1965 establishments in Alabama