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Odds and Ends - Charlotte
October 8, 2012
By VI News
VegasInsider.com
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.
-- 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 107 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).
-- 40 drivers have posted poles, led by David Pearson with 14.
-- Fireball Roberts won the pole for the first race, in 1960.
-- David Pearson posted 11 straight poles at Charlotte from the fall of 1973 through 1978.
-- Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in poles, with nine. Jeff Gordon has eight.
-- Jeff Gordon won five straight poles for the spring races between 1994 and 1998.
-- 44 drivers have won races, led by Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson, with six each.
-- Joe Lee Johnson won the first race, in 1960.
-- There have been 13 back-to-back victories, including three consecutive by Fred Lorenzen (fall 1964 and both 1965) and four straight by Jimmie Johnson (both in 2004 and 2005).
-- A sweep has occurred eight times, including each season from 2004-2007.
-- 14 races have been won from the pole, the last by Jimmie Johnson (October, 2009).
-- Jimmie Johnson won the 2003 Coca-Cola 600 from the 37th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.
-- A number of active drivers earned their first win at CMS: Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears and David Reutimann. Inactive drivers David Pearson, Buddy Baker and Charlie Glotzbach also got their first series win at Charlotte.
-- Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Charlotte Motor Speedway winner: Jeff Gordon (10/10/1993 – 22 years, 2 months, 6 days).
-- Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Charlotte Motor Speedway winner: Cale Yarborough (10/06/1985 – 46 years, 6 months, 9 days).
Charlotte Motor Speedway Data
Chase Race #: 5 of 10
Season Race #: 31 of 36 (10-13-12)
Track Size: 1.5-mile
Banking/Turns: 24 degrees
Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 1,980 feet
Backstretch Length: 1,500 feet
Race Length: 334 laps / 500 miles
Top 12 Driver Rating at Charlotte
Jimmie Johnson 111.0
Kyle Busch 107.5
Kasey Kahne 97.5
Matt Kenseth 95.1
Greg Biffle 92.3
Denny Hamlin 89.3
Carl Edwards 88.4
Joey Logano 88.3
Jeff Gordon 87.7
Mark Martin 87.0
Jeff Burton 84.4
Tony Stewart 83.4
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2012 races (15 total) among active drivers at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Qualifying/Race Data
2011 pole winner: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet (191.959 mph, 28.131 sec., 10-13-11)
2011 race winner: Matt Kenseth, Ford (146.194 mph, 3:25:37, 10-15-11)
Track qualifying record: Elliott Sadler, Ford (193.216 mph, 27.948 sec., 10-13-05)
Track race record: Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet (160.306 mph, 3:07:31, 10-11-99)
NASCAR in North Carolina
-- There have been 515 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in North Carolina.
-- 427 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as North Carolina.
-- There have been 46 race winners from North Carolina in NASCAR’s three national series; 28 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
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