Bristol Motor Speedway
| "Thunder Valley" "The Last Great Colosseum" "The World's Fastest Half-Mile" |
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| Location | 151 Speedway Boulevard Bristol, Tennessee 37620 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 / −4 (DST) |
| Coordinates | 36°30′58″N 82°15′25″W / 36.516°N 82.257°WCoordinates: 36°30′58″N 82°15′25″W / 36.516°N 82.257°W |
| Capacity | 162,000 |
| Owner | Speedway Motorsports, Inc. |
| Operator | Speedway Motorsports, Inc. |
| Broke ground | 1960 |
| Opened | 1961 |
| Construction cost | $600,000 |
| Architect |
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| Former names | Bristol International Raceway Bristol Raceway |
| Major events |
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| Oval | |
| Surface | Concrete |
| Length | 0.533 mi (0.858 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | Turns: 26–30° Straights: 6–10° |
| Lap record | 0:12.742 (Brian Gerster, , 2011, Must See Racing X-treme Speed Classic) |
| Temporary Dirt Oval | |
| Surface | Clay |
| Length | 0.533 mi (0.858 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | Turns: 22–24° Straights: 9° |
| Lap record | 0:13.86 (Sammy Swindell, Swindell Motorsports, 2000, World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series) |
The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.
Bristol Motor Speedway is the fourth largest sports venue in America and the eighth largest in the world, housing up to 162,000 people. The track is so short that speeds here are far lower than is typical on most NASCAR oval tracks, but they are very fast compared to other short tracks due to the high banking. These features make for a considerable amount of "paint swapping" at the NASCAR races where the initial starting grid of 40 vehicles in the Cup Series, 40 in the Xfinity Series, and 32 in the Truck Series, extends almost halfway around the track, meaning that slower qualifiers begin the race almost half a lap down. The congestion inherent in this facility and the power of the cars and trucks has been likened to "flying fighter jets in a gymnasium" (or a "washing machine" or a "toilet"). The track is one that tends to be either loved or hated by the fans and the drivers. Purists who grew up driving or attending races at older short tracks located at fairgrounds and similar places tend to love Bristol, while those raised on superspeedway racing tend to chafe at the lower speeds.
Bristol races are often the scene of the highest number of yellow-flag caution laps in the NASCAR season; with so many cars in such a small space, contact is almost inevitable. Until the Beneficiary Rule was instituted in 2004 (the rule was instituted after the races at Bristol in 2003), the short lap length and the unpredictable nature of the racing meant that this was one of the few remaining NASCAR tracks at which it was feasible for a driver to come back to win a race from several laps down; at most modern tracks, especially superspeedways, that was almost impossible. The short lap length also cuts the other way; any unscheduled pit stop for reasons such as a cut tire will result in the driver going two or more laps down as it is almost impossible to get anything done to a car during the time taken to complete one circuit, especially under green-flag conditions (approximately 15 seconds). Thus, the disadvantage of losing laps means the chances of earning a free pass under the Beneficiary Rule is harder, since a driver losing two laps under a green-flag pit stop would have to race their way past the leader before the caution waved to regain one of their laps back, unless there are no cars one lap behind.
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