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| Length | 1 km (5/8 miles) |
|---|---|
| Banking | Turns: 24° Straights: 5° |
Birmingham International Raceway, (BIR) (formerly Fairgrounds Raceway, Birmingham Super Speedway, Birmingham Super Raceway and Birmingham International Speedway) was a 5/8-mile oval paved racetrack located at the Alabama State Fairgrounds in the Five Points West neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama. It was used primarily for late-model automobile racing.
The original one-mile dirt oval was built as a horse track. On October 7, 1906, the track hosted its first motorcycle race, followed by an automobile race three days later. These events continued regularly through 1917. A 10,000-seat grandstand was built in 1925.
In 1932 the oval was reduced to a half-mile circuit. The smaller configuration was used until July 4, 1942, when it closed for World War II. It was reopened on October 1, 1946, and began hosting weekly auto-racing events organized by promoter J. P. Rotton. [1]
A quarter-mile dirt oval was added in 1958 and was the first track to be paved, with the first events held on the new surface on July 15, 1960. After one season of racing on the quarter-mile track the present five-eighths-mile course was constructed with its first race held on June 28, 1962. With new lighting the Sunday afternoon races were moved to Friday nights.
Between 1958 and 1968 a total of eight NASCAR Cup Series races were run at the Fairgrounds Raceway. During the same period Bobby Allison had moved to Hueytown from Miami, Florida, and convinced his brother Donnie and fellow racer Red Farmer to join him in founding a new race shop. The so-called "Alabama Gang" dominated the races at the Fairgrounds track, but other legends of the sport also recorded wins, including "Fireball" Roberts, Richard Petty, and Ned Jarrett. [2] [3] In 1969, the sanctioning body moved the date from Birmingham to a new fast 2.66 mile track, the Alabama International Motor Speedway.
The track also hosted one NASCAR Convertible Series event in 1959 and 4 NASCAR Southeast Series races between 1991 and 2002.
The facility hosted one CARS Hooters Pro Cup Series event in 1997.
Her final day of racing glory was October 26, 2008. On the final day, there were two divisions that raced, Modifieds and Late Model. Dustin Knowles started from the pole, led every lap, and won the modified race. Justin South won the late model race in a photo finish. [4]
On June 19, 2008, Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford proposed a plan to move BIR from the Fairgrounds to city-owned property in northwest Birmingham. Langford said the track, which had been in continuous operation for over 80 years in Five Points West, needed to be upgraded, and did not fit into current plans for the renovation of Fair Park. Langford committed $1 million to the project, but stated that track officials would have to come up with the majority of the funds needed for the project. [5]
After the 2008 race season, the track was shut down. On January 30, 2009, demolition of the grandstand began, and was completed two months later.
Oval track racing is a form of motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic is almost universally counter-clockwise. Oval tracks are dedicated motorsport circuits, used predominantly in the United States. They often have banked turns and some, despite the name, are not precisely oval, and the shape of the track can vary.
Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. Phoenix Raceway has also hosted the CART, IndyCar Series, USAC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The raceway is currently owned and operated by NASCAR.
Speedway Motorsports, LLC is an American company that owns and manages auto racing facilities that host races sanctioned by NASCAR, NHRA, World of Outlaws and other racing series. The company was founded by Bruton Smith and has its headquarters at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in Concord, North Carolina, just north of Charlotte. Speedway Motorsports owns nine racing facilities with a combined seating capacity of approximately 885,000. In addition to operating racetracks, Speedway Motorsports owns Performance Racing Network (PRN), U.S. Legend Cars International, and co-owns Motorsports Authentics.
Nazareth Speedway is a defunct auto racing facility in Lower Nazareth Township in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which operated from 1910 to 2004. The racing facility operated in two distinct course configurations. In its early years, it was a dirt twin oval layout. In 1987, it was reopened as a paved tri-oval that measured just slightly under 1 mile.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP), formerly Thompson Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, is a motorsports park in Thompson, Connecticut, featuring a 5⁄8-mile (1.0 km) asphalt oval racetrack and a 1.7-mile (2.7 km) road racing course. Once known as the "Indianapolis of the East", it was the first asphalt-paved racing oval track in the United States and is now under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series banner. Each year Thompson hosts one of the great fall variety events "The World Series of Auto Racing" highlighted by the International Supermodified Association and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. This event frequently draws over 350 race cars in 16 separate divisions over three days. Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is the track that had hosted the most ever races in the modern era of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with 146 races from 1985 to 2019.
Route 66 Raceway is a motorsports facility located in Joliet, Illinois, United States. It consists of a 0.25-mile (0.40 km) dragstrip and a 0.375-mile (0.604 km) dirt oval racetrack. The facility is owned and operated by NASCAR and is located adjacent to Chicagoland Speedway.
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a 6/10 mile motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1984.
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Jennerstown Speedway Complex is a racetrack in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania. Built on land that was once home to the Jenners Fair the track had its start in the 1920s as a flat, half-mile dirt track. After several changes, advancements and owners the track closed in 2009 until early 2014 when it was reopened. It is a NASCAR certified track, racing greats such as Dale Earnhardt, Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, and Darrell Waltrip.
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The Oswego Speedway is a 5/8 mile race track in Oswego, New York. It was built in 1951 and was paved with asphalt since the 1952. The track has held dates on several national tours - the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, ASA National Tour, and USAC Silver Crown Series. It was temporarily covered with dirt in 2016 when it held a one-off Super DIRTcar Series race. The track is the Labor Day Weekend home of the 200-lap, non-wing, big-block supermodified Budweiser Classic and Race of Champions.
Tucson Speedway is a 0.375 mi (604 m) paved oval racetrack located at the Pima County Fairgrounds, off Interstate 10 just south of Tucson, Arizona. It is one of only three paved ovals in the state of Arizona.
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The Mid-Am Racing Series, formerly Mid American Stock Car Series, is an elite sportsman traveling stock car racing series in the Midwestern United States. The cars are based on a 108" metric stock frame, less costly suspension parts and a maximum of 358 cubic inch engine. The car's roll cage and chassis were made of a design very similar to the same chassis a previous design of NASCAR cup chassis, but have also included more modern safety features such as plated door bars and the "Earnhardt bar" which runs from the roof to the dash. The series runs primarily on paved racetracks but also appears on dirt and road courses. The series is the highest form of racing available to sportsman-style, GM metric chassis stock cars.
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The Syracuse Mile was a 1-mile (1.6 km) dirt oval raceway located at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York. Originally built for harness racing in 1826, the first auto race was run in 1903, making it the second oldest auto racing facility in United States history. The racetrack was also nicknamed "The Moody Mile" after driver Wes Moody turned a 100-mile-per-hour lap in 1970. The track and grandstands were torn down in 2016 by state government officials with the plan to modernize facilities.