Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a much-publicized motorsport facility, located in Clark County, Las Vegas, United States. It is about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip. The complex consists of multiple tracks for motorsports racing and is about 1,200 acre (490 hectare).

Speedway Motorsports, Inc. owns the complex and was formerly called the "Las Vegas Speedrome". It was opened in 1972 and the speedway is much-publicized for hosting NASCAR Series such as Kobalt 400, Boyd Gaming 300, and Las Vegas 350.

History of Las Vegas Motor Speedway

In 1971, after the closure of the Stardust International Raceway, plans of new racing were developing in Las Vegas. The new facility was selected in 1972.

Alexander Rodriguez leased the facility from the City of Las Vegas and constructed more 3/8 mile short track in 1985.

In 1989 Ralph Engelstad of the Imperial Palace purchased the track and renamed the facility as Las Vegas Speedway Park. With contribution of 72 million US dollars from William Bennett of Sahara Hotel opened a new speedway on the same site.

In 1998 Speedway Motorsports purchased Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the Engelstad and Bennett for 215 million US dollars. Chris Powell was named the general manager and president of speedway.

Architectural Aspects

The tracks of Las Vegas Motor Speedway are as follows:

• The Inside Road course is 1.1 miles (1.8 km) with 0.76 miles (1.22 km) road configuration and 530 meters of oval configuration.
• The Outside road course has several configurations with a maximum length of 2.4 miles (3.9 km).
• The Bullring is 0.375 miles (604 m) paved in an oval shape.
• The Dirt Track is made up of 800 meters clay in an oval shape.
• The strip is of 0.25 miles (402 m).
• The Dream Racing Course is of 1.5 miles (2.41 km) road course with a 1.2 miles (1.9 km) configuration.
• The Off-road Course is 850 by 750 feet (260 by 230 meters) area that can accommodate multiple configurations.

Speedway Track Length

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (“NASCAR”) timing and scoring use a length of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and this length was also used by IndyCar Series League between 1996 and 2000. Moreover in their last race that is in 2011 IndyCar had scaled again the track length to 1.544 miles (2.485 km).

Moreover in between the old layout (2005) and new layout (2011) no IndyCar race was held and NASCAR still uses the old layout for the reconfigured oval.

Significance

• From 1999 to 2002, the track has hosted the Winston No Bull 5 Million Dollar Bonus.
• The speedway has fan-zone which is called the Neon Garage.
• The Kobalt 400, a Monster Energy NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) Cup Series stock car race, is held annually at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The inaugural race took place in 1998.
• Denso Spark Plug NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Nationals and the Toyota NHRA Nationals races are also held in the arena.
• In 2000, Jeff Burton set a record of 2 h 13 min 13 s (135.118 mph) in NASCAR Xfinity Series Race.
• In 2002, David Starr set a record of 1 h 37 min 3 s (135.394 mph) in NASCAR Truck Series Race.
• On 25^th October 2003 Greg Biffle set a record of 28.830 s (192.300 mph) by qualifying in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
• Brad Keselowski set a record of 2 h 35 min 24 s (154.633 mph)  in 2014 Kobalt 400 held at the NASCAR Cup Series Race.
• On 4^th March 2016 Kurt Busch qualified the NASCAR Cup Series by setting a record of 27.498 s (196.378 mph).
• In 2019, Kyle Busch set a record of 30.184 s (178.903 mph) by qualifying in the NASCAR Truck Series.

Other events than Sports

• In December 2013, The RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship was held in Las Vegas Motor Speedway in which Tim Burke won the event.
• On 18^th May2014, the track had served as the Finish Line for the 24th season of The Amazing Race broadcast in which Dave and Connor O'Leary won the Race.
• World of Outlaws first visited the Dirt Track in November 1996 and it hosted both the spring and fall event from 1997 to 2006. Moreover Since 2009, the World of Outlaws races only in spring. In March 2004, the track record was set by Danny Lasoski with 13.719 seconds (131.205 mph).
• Red Bull Air Race World Championship visited the speedway in 2014 and 2015. The 2016 event was cancelled due to bad weather conditions and the 2017 event was postponed due to declining attendance and general apathy.
• Since 2011, the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), an electronic music festival hosted by Insomniac Events is held every year at the speedway.
• At the beginning of 2018, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West had raced at the Dirt Track.
• The Formula D (A United States-based motorsport drifting series) had an event here from 2009 to 2012.
• In 2020, high school seniors at Faith Lutheran High School received their diplomas in a "drive-thru" graduation ceremony alternative due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.