Charlotte Odds & Ends

At 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 105 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 beforethe May race. The first six fall races at Charlotte were 400-mile events (1960-65).

·         38 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.

·         Joey Logano is the only driver with more than two starts at Charlotte to average a top-10 finish (7.4).

·         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 wins at Charlotte.

·         Three Chase contenders earned their first career Coors Light poles at Charlotte: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman.

Charlotte Motor Speedway Data

Race #: 31 of 36 (10-15-11)

Track Size: 1.5 miles

·     Banking/Corners: 24 degrees

·     Banking/Straights: 5 degrees

·     Frontstretch: 1,980 feet