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Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway) is a
speedway in Concord, North Carolina, north of Charlotte. It
features a 1.5 mile long quad-oval track that seats 167,000
people, with room for 50,000 more spectators in the infield.
Constructed in 1959, it was the first speedway to host
nighttime superspeedway racing (in 1992) in the "modern era,"
the first being the now defunct Raleigh, N.C. Speedway in
1958, and to offer year-round residences (in 1984) with 52
condominiums available over turn one. It is owned by Speedway
Motorsports, which has its corporate headquarters on the same
property. The speedway is considered the home base of NASCAR,
with 90% of NASCAR teams being based within 50 miles. In
February 1999, Lowe's bought the naming rights to the
speedway, making it the first race track in the country with a
corporate sponsor.
Along with the main oval, the
speedway also has a 2.25 mile road course in the infield, a
0.6 mile kart course in the infield, a quarter-mile oval using
part of the front stretch and pit road, and an 0.2 mile oval
outside turn three. Also, across U.S. Highway 29 from the
speedway, is a 0.4 mile dirt track that opened in May 2000.
In 2005, the surface of the circuit had started to wear
from its last paving in mid-1994, resulting in the track's
treatment in a diamond-grinding process to smooth out bumps.
This process, known as levigation, caused major tire problems
during both NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events there, with a
record 22 cautions at the showcase Coca-Cola 600, which is
considered one of the top five annual NASCAR races. It was the
first NEXTEL Cup Series event to go more than five hours
(excluding red flags) in 25 years. Speed increases were also a
result of the levigation. After the problem with the tires,
the speedway was repaved in 2006.
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