Texas Motor Speedway
Motorsport track in the United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a 1.500-mile (2.414 km) quad-oval intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The track has hosted both NASCAR and IndyCar events annually since its inaugural season of racing in 1997. The track is owned by the city of Fort Worth's sports authority and is leased out by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) for racing, with Mark Faber currently serving as the track's general manager. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate 35W and Texas State Highway 114.
The Great American Speedway | |
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Location | 3545 Lone Star Circle, Fort Worth, Texas |
Time zone | UTC−6 / UTC−5 (DST) |
Coordinates | 33.0375°N 97.2847°W / 33.0375; -97.2847 |
Owner | Fort Worth Sports Authority |
Operator | Speedway Motorsports (1996–present) |
Broke ground | 11 April 1995; 29 years ago (1995-04-11) |
Opened | 3 August 1996; 27 years ago (1996-08-03) |
Construction cost | $110 million USD |
Former names | Texas International Raceway (1996) |
Major events | Current: NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (2005–present) O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 (1997–2020) NASCAR All-Star Race (2021–2022) Former: IndyCar Series PPG 375 (1997–2023) American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Texas (2000–2001) SpeedVision World Challenge (2000–2001) |
Website | texasmotorspeedway |
Oval (1996–present) | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 1.500 miles (2.414 km) |
Turns | 4 |
Banking | Turns 1 and 2: 20° Turns 3 and 4: 24° Frontstretch and backstretch: 5° |
Race lap record | 0:22.972 ( Tony Stewart, Dallara IR-7, 1998, IRL) |
Road Course with Chicane (2000–present) | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 2.324 miles (3.740 km) |
Turns | 10 |
Race lap record | 1:12.912 ( Allan McNish, Audi R8, 2000, LMP900) |
As of 2013, the track had a capacity of 112,662, down from its peak of over 200,000 in the early 2000s. The track features numerous amenities, including the world's largest HD video screen, almost 200 suites, a Speedway Club overlooking the first turn, and 10-story building dedicated for office space and condominiums. The Texas Motor Speedway complex also features two adjacent tracks, including a 1⁄5 mile (0.32 km) paved short track and a 2⁄5 mile (0.64 km) dirt track.
Following the decline of the Texas World Speedway that began in the 1980s, the state of Texas found itself without a major racetrack and races for more than a decade. In the early 1990s, the newly incorporated Speedway Motorsports and its founder, Bruton Smith, saw itself with a major rise in profits that correlated with a rise of popularity in stock car racing. Using the new profits he had made, he set out to build a major racetrack west of the Mississippi River, deciding on the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in 1994 with eventual longtime track general manager Eddie Gossage. Construction began in 1995 and completed in 1996, with the track holding its first NASCAR and IndyCar races in 1997.
The track has drawn praise for its facilities and amenities. However, since the mid-2010s, the track has faced mounting criticism for a poor racing product that have at points resulted controversial races, along with a repave and redesign that was directed by SMI's current CEO, Marcus Smith, that was widely scorned by the motorsports industry in the following years of the repave. It has also gained criticism on accusations of being a key part of NASCAR's decline, having been part of NASCAR's expansion in the 1990s that has been accused of leaving NASCAR's core fanbase behind for a wider, casual fanbase. The track was also the main track involved in the Ferko lawsuit, a lawsuit that has affected NASCAR's popularity to this day.