Bryar Motorsports Park
| "The Magic Mile" | |
|---|---|
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| Location | 1122 Route 106 North Loudon, New Hampshire 03307 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 / −4 (DST) |
| Capacity | 88,000 (seated) |
| Owner | Speedway Motorsports, Inc. |
| Operator | Speedway Motorsports, Inc. |
| Broke ground | August 13, 1989 |
| Opened | June 5, 1990 |
| Former names | Bryar Motorsport Park (1960–1989) New Hampshire International Speedway (1990–2007) |
| Major events |
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series New Hampshire 301 New England 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series Lakes Region 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175 Motorcycles Loudon Classic |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt and Granite |
| Length | 1.058 mi (1.703 km) |
| Banking | Turns – Variable banking at 2/7 degrees (12% grade) Straightaways – 1 degree banking |
| Lap record | 0:21.466 (Andre Ribeiro, Tasman Motorsports, 1995, CART PPG IndyCar World Series) |
| Road Course | |
| Length | 1.6 mi (2.57 km) |
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058-mile (1.703 km) oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) road course, which includes much of the oval.
The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.
The track opened as New Hampshire International Speedway in June 1990, after nine months of construction following the Bahre family's purchase of the Bryar Motorsports Park. The existing road circuit was redeveloped into a multi-purpose track, with NASCAR added to the popular Loudon Classic motorcycle, WKA go-kart and SCCA races on the complex. It was the largest speedway in New England, and later expansion has made it the largest sports and entertainment venue of any type in the region. Its construction was extremely unusual for a race track, in that it was designed and constructed without consulting engineers, and using just one surveyor (whose primary job was to plant stakes) to help. NASCAR made its debut at the track in July 1990, with a Busch Series race won by Tommy Ellis. For three years, the Busch Series hosted a pair of races at the track each year.
The Busch races were successful. Loudon gained a spot on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 1993. Rusty Wallace won the inaugural Slick 50 300 in July of that year. That race was also Davey Allison's final race: the next day, Allison was fatally injured in a helicopter crash.
In 1996, Ernie Irvan captured the win in the July race, making it one of the more emotional victories in NASCAR history. The win came less than two years after Irvan suffered a near-fatal crash at Michigan International Speedway, where he was given less than a 10% chance of survival.
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