The Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee is the fastest half mile in NASCAR racing. The track is short, at just .533 miles, with 36 degree banking in the corners, and 16 degree banking on the straightaways. It’s one of the most steeply banked tracks used by NASCAR. Because the oval is short, speeds at Bristol are slower than at most of the other tracks used by NASCAR. The short track is a favorite with older drivers, and drivers who started out on short track racing; while younger drivers who learned to race on the faster, longer tracks don’t especially like Bristol Motor Speedway.
Two NASCAR Nextel Cup races are held here annually, the Food City 500 in the spring, a daytime race that is one of NASCAR’s top ten races; and the Sharpie 500, a nighttime race and one of toughest tickets to obtain, in the fall. The speedway also hosts Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series races.
The Nextel Cup Series events are 500 laps each, the Busch Series events are 250 laps, and the Craftsman Truck Series events are 200 laps each.
Built in 1960, the track was originally planned for Piney Flats, Tennessee. However, the developers were met with local opposition, so the track was moved five miles away to Bristol, and the Bristol International Motor Speedway was born. The first NASCAR race was held at the track on July 30, 1961, with a crowd of 18,000 spectators, and 42 drivers.
Originally, the track was a perfect half mile oval, with 22 degree banking in the turns. In 1969, the track was reshaped and remeasured, resulting in the current .533 miles and 36 degree banks. The surface of the track was asphalt until 1992, when the asphalt was replaced with concrete.
Bristol International Motor Speedway was sold in 1976, and was renamed Bristol International Raceway. The first nighttime race was a Winston (now Nextel) Cup race, held in August of 1978. The track was sold again in 1996 to Bruton Smith’s Speedway Motorsports, Inc. In May of 1996, the track’s name was changed once again, this time to Bristol Motor Speedway.
The Speedway is the largest sports arena in Tennessee, currently seating between 160,000 and 170,000 spectators. All of the seating areas in the Speedway are named for past race winners and NASCAR champions. Kulwicki Terrace and Kulwicki Towers are named for late NASCAR star Alan Kulwicki, who was killed in a 1993 plane crash while on his way to a race at Bristol.
Sections at Turns 3 & 4 are named for Darrell Waltrip; including a part of Section 4 seating that is alcohol-free. The Allison family and David Pearson also have grandstands name after them. The 5000-seat grandstands at Turns 1 & 2 are named for Rusty Wallace.
Three new levels of seating and 52 luxury skyboxes were added to the grandstands in 2002. These newer areas are named for Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Robert Glen Johnson Jr., and Dale Earnhardt.
Many notable moments in NASCAR have happened in Bristol. Darrell Waltrip has the most wins at Bristol of any past or present NASCAR driver with 12; 7 of those wins were consecutive. Kurt Busch won his first Cup race in 2002 at the Food City 500. Ryan Newman has the record for the fastest Cup Qualifying lap at 14.908 seconds, or 128.709 miles per hours; achieved at Bristol in 2003.
In addition to the oval NASCAR track, Bristol Motor Speedway has a quarter-mile drag strip nicknamed “Thunder Valley”. An NHRA event is held here annually as well.
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