Nascar races on all sorts of tracks, from short to long, oval to road course, concrete to asphalt. Here’s a bi-weekly look at all the tracks of Nascar’s National Touring Series.
PHOENIX RACEWAY
1.022 mile asphalt “dogleg” oval
Opened 1964
Lights? Yes
Series: Cup, Xfinity, Trucks
Nicknames: Monument Hill, The Dogleg, The Snakes’ Favorite Sssspeedway
THREE FUN FACTS:
1. The track’s signature “dog leg” is a large section of track on the kinked frontstretch that cars can cut across. Doing so will slightly shorten the distance around the track, but subjects the car to undercarriage damage, difficulties merging with traffic, and never-ending footage of Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon fighting.
2. Speaking of Jeff Gordon, the track was temporarily renamed in his honor for his final season. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be his final season—he was called back into the cockpit the next year to substitute in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., a move I think we’d all like to erase from the history books.
3. Phoenix was the site of Nascar’s first-ever Truck Series race, the Copper World Classic. Back then the series was known as the Nascar SuperTruck Series, just to be goofy.
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