Charlotte Motor Speedway:History

Charlotte Motor Speedway:

History

·         Construction began on Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1959.

·         The track’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 19, 1960 – won by Joe Lee Johnson.

·         The track was repaved midseason in 1994.

·         The track name changed from Charlotte Motor Speedway to Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 1999. It changed back to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 2010 season.

·         The track was re-paved again before the 2006 season.

Notebook

·         There have been 108 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, two races per year since the track opened in 1960. In 1961, there were two 100-mile qualifying points races held the week before the May race. The first six fall races at Charlotte were 400-mile events (1960-65).

·         517 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points paying race at Charlotte Motor Speedway; 364 in more than one.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in starts at Charlotte with 64. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers with 57 starts; followed by Mark Martin with 56.

·         Fireball Roberts won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Charlotte in 1960 with a speed of 133.904 mph.

·         41 drivers have Coors Light poles at Charlotte, led by David Pearson with 14. Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in poles, with nine, followed by Jeff Gordon with eight.

·         12 drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Charlotte. David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles at Charlotte with 11; from the fall of 1973 through 1978.

·         Jeff Gordon won five straight poles for the spring races at Charlotte between 1994 and 1998.

·         Youngest Charlotte pole winner: Jeff Gordon (10/10/1993 – 22 years, 2 months, 6 days).

·         Oldest Charlotte pole winner: Bobby Allison (10/11/1987 – 49 years, 10 months, 8 days).

·         45 different drivers have won at Charlotte Motor Speedway, led by Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison and Jimmie Johnson with six wins each.

·         Nine drivers have posted consecutive wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including three consecutive by Fred Lorenzen (fall 1964 and both 1965) and four straight by Jimmie Johnson (both in 2004 and 2005).

·         A season sweep at Charlotte has occurred eight times, including each season from 2004-2007.

·         Seven times from seven different drivers has the winner of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race gone on to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Darrell Waltrip (1985), Davey Allison (1991), Dale Earnhardt (1993), Jeff Gordon (1997), Jimmie Johnson (2003), Kasey Kahne (2008) and Kurt Busch (2010).

·         Youngest Charlotte winner: Jeff Gordon (5/29/1994 – 22 years, 9 months, 25 days).

·         Oldest Charlotte winner: Cale Yarborough (10/6/1985 – 46 years, 6 months, 9 days).

·         Hendrick Motorsportshas the most wins at Charlotte in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 17: Jimmie Johnson (six), Jeff Gordon (five), Darrell Waltrip (two), Ken Schrader (one), Terry Labonte (one), Casey Mears (one) and Kasey Kahne (one).  

·         Eight different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Charlotte; led by Chevrolet with 40 victories; followed by Ford with 28.

·         14 of the 108 (12.9%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from the Coors Light pole; the two most recent were Jimmie Johnson in 2004 and 2009.

·         The second-place starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (17) than any other starting position at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

·         31 of the 108 (28.7%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from the front row: 14 from the pole and 17 from second-place.

·         83 of the 108 (76.8%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         Eight of the 108 (7.4%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Charlotte was 37th, by Jimmie Johnson in the Coca-Cola 600 of 2003.

·         Richard Petty leads the series in runner-up finishes at Charlotte with nine. Bobby Labonte leads all active drivers in second-place finishes at Charlotte with six; followed by Matt Kenseth with three.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Bobby Allison are tied for the series’ most top-five finishes at Charlotte with 23. Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 18, followed by Jeff Gordon with 16.

·         Richard Petty leads the series in top-10 finishes at Charlotte with 31. Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 24.

·         Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Charlotte with a 6.917.

·         Joey Logano leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Charlotte with a 10.125.

·         14 of the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners at Charlotte Motor Speedway participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Jamie McMurray won in his first appearance at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon won in his second appearance at CMS.     

·         Terry Labonte competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway 36 times before winning in the fall of 1996; the longest span of any the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners.

·         Among the 16 active NSCS Charlotte winners Bobby Labonte (36), Kevin Harvick (20), Kurt Busch (19), Mark Martin (15), Clint Bowyer (13), Ken Schrader (10) and Jeff Burton (10) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win.

·         Joe Nemechek leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte without visiting Victory Lane at 33; followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 26.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Charlotte was the May 29, 2005 race won by Jimmie Johnson over Bobby Labonte with an MOV of 0.027 second.

·         There have been three NASCAR Sprint Cup races resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but only once for the Coca-Cola 600 (Scheduled No. of Laps/Actual No. of Laps): fall of 2005 (334/336), fall of 2007 (334/337) and the 2011 Coca-Cola 600 (400/402).

·         Five of the 108 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway have been shortened due to weather conditions; the most recent was the 2009 Coca-Cola 600 won by David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip Racing. Four of the five races shortened were the 600-mile events (1968, 1997, 2003 and 2009).   

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Charlotte twice; the fall race of 2002 and the fall race of 2008.

·         Seven NASCAR Sprint Cup active drivers have made their first career start at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Michael Waltrip (5/26/85), Elliott Sadler (5/24/98), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5/30/99), Jimmie Johnson (10/7/01), Brian Vickers (10/11/03), David Reutimann (10/15/05) and Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5/29/11).

·         Four active drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Jeff Gordon (10/10/93), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5/28/00), Ryan Newman (5/27/01) and Aric Almirola (5/27/12). Almirola’s pole last season was the first time since May 22, 1966 that the No. 43 car had won the Coors Light pole at CMS.

·         Six active NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers have posted their first career win at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Jeff Gordon (5/29/94), Bobby Labonte (5/28/95), Matt Kenseth (5/28/00), Jamie McMurray (10/13/02), Casey Mears (5/27/07) and David Reutimann (5/25/09).

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Charlotte with 1,439 laps led in 23 starts. 826 of Johnson’s 1,439 laps led at CMS were in the Coca-Cola 600; the most of any active NSCS driver.