Track “Facts”: Charlotte

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.

CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY (original layout)

1.5 mile asphalt quad oval

Opened 1960

Lights?  Yes

Series: Cup, Xfinity, Trucks

Nicknames: America’s Home for Racing, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, The Monument to Bruton Smith’s Ego

THREE FUN FACTS:

1. Charlotte Motor Speedway was the first track built by Bruton Smith, founder of Speedway Motorsports Inc.  The organization owns several tracks Nascar races on, and has provided Nascar’s France Family with an immeasurable amount of heartburn over the decades.

2. This track pioneered the inclusion of trackside condos, which afforded well-heeled race fans the chance to brag about having a REALLY loud backyard.

3. A drag racing facility and a dirt track are located on the property as well.  This makes CMS the racing equivalent of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, except there aren’t a bunch of food distributors next door.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

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Kyle Busch Surprised How Nice Everyone Is to Him Lately

It’s a year of new beginnings for Kyle Busch, who has a new team owner (Richard Childress), new car number (8), and a new car (Chevy).  But in an exclusive sit-down interview, Busch has said that the most-surprising new thing about the 2023 Nascar season has been how friendly and deferential everyone has been to him so far.

“Its really refreshing just how nice and polite everyone has been to me since we got to the Busch Light Clash”, Busch said.  “Everyone is saying they’ll give me whatever they want, putting their hands up for high-fives, and even emptying their pockets.  It’s almost like they’re scared of angering me for some reason.”

Busch, nicknamed “Rowdy” for his wild driving style, has been known in the past for a somewhat standoffish personality, occasionally rubbing drivers the wrong way.  But according to Busch, everyone seems to have forgiven and forgotten his churlish ways.

“Look, I know I haven’t been the friendliest guy in the sport”, Busch admitted, “but it seems like everyone wants to turn over a new leaf with me.  Just the other day I reached into my pocket to get my keys, and a bunch of crew members started crying and saying they’d do whatever I wanted them to do.  It was so refreshing to finally be getting some respect in the garage.”

Busch has said that he hopes to see the new attitude the garage is exhibiting transfer onto the track as well.

“Daytona is going to be a big test for me, but I’m hoping the field is ready to let me run my own race”, Busch said.  “Why, just yesterday I walked up to my old Joe Gibbs Racing crew, and they immediately said they’d give me anything I wanted.  They even raised their hands up for high-fives—isn’t that something?”

Busch then left the interview to discuss running a Charlton Heston-themed special paint scheme later this year.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

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Nascar Race Picks: Uncle Max vs. The Tarot Deck—Daytona

And now I’m officially back!  Had a heck of a Super Bowl party here at the townhouse—who knew how popular cheesesteak egg rolls with barbecue sauce would be?  But its time to move on from the Super Bowl to The Super Bowl of Auto Racing, the Daytona 500.  Annnnnd some other races too.

I’m thinking we see a happy medium between last year’s mass of race winners and a small cadre of contenders—3 or 4 drivers win a majority of the races with another 5-7 winning a race a piece.  I’m thinking we see Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports dominate, with a small uptick in performance by Stewart-Haas and a slight downturn for Joe Gibbs Racing.  And I’m thinking no matter what happens, bitter old race fans will find a way to complain.

With that out of the way, onto the picks!

Friday Night TRUCK SERIES NextEra Energy 250: Chase Elliott—Chase steps down to the Truck Series and gets a win.  Heck of a way to spend your Friday night.

Saturday Evening XFINITY SERIES Beef 300: Sam Mayer—Number One finally breaks through.  And boy do I miss those Beef Checkoff commercials from the 90s.

Sunday CUP SERIES Daytona 500:  The Tarot Deck selects The Ten of Cups, 20th in points (from last year) Aric Almirola.  FAVORITE: William Byron—an exciting race ends with a relatively dull winner.  NEXT FAVORITE: Ross Chastain—and he won’t even need to run the wall this time (most likely).  DARK HORSE: Ryan Preece—reminder that a “dark horse” is pretty much any driver not anticipated to win, typically someone who hasn’t won yet this year or last.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com