Bristol Motor Speedway History and Notes

At Bristol Motor Speedway:
History
· Groundbreaking for Bristol International Speedway, as Bristol Motor Speedway was originally known, took place in 1960. The track was an exact half-mile.

· First NASCAR Sprint Cup race was July 30, 1961.

· In the fall of 1969, the track was reshaped and re-measured to .533-miles.

· The name changed to Bristol International Raceway in 1978.

· The first night race was held in the fall of 1978.

· The surface was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992.

· The name changed to Bristol Motor Speedway in May 1996.

· The track was resurfaced between races in 2007.

· A milling process took place between races in 2012, erasing the progressive banking in the upper groove of the turns.

Notebook

· There have been 103 NASCAR Sprint Cup races since the first race there in 1961, two races each season.

· All races have been scheduled for 500 laps, except for both races in 1976 and the second in 1977, which were 400 laps.

· Fred Lorenzen won the first pole.

· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was won by Jack Smith (with relief from Johnny Allen).

· There have been 45 different pole winners, led by Cale Yarborough and Mark Martin (nine). Martin swept both poles at Bristol in 2009.

· 39 different drivers have won, led by Darrell Waltrip (12).

· Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon each have five wins, most among active drivers.

· The race winner has started from the pole 22 times, the most productive starting position. The last driver to win from the pole was Carl Edwards, in the night race of 2008.

· 82 of 103 races have been won from a top-10 starting position, including 52 from the first four spots.

· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started is 38th, by Elliott Sadler in 2001.

· The last seven Bristol races had a margin of victory under one second.

· Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bristol Motor Speedway winner: Kyle Busch (03/25/2007 – 21 years, 10 months, 23 days)

· Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bristol Motor Speedway winner: Dale Earnhardt (08/28/1999 – 48 years, 3 months, 30 days)

Bristol Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 24 of 36 (08-25-12)
Track Size: 0.533-miles
Banking/Corners: 26 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 5 to 9 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 4 to 8 degrees
Race Length: 500 laps / 266.5 miles

- NASCAR Statistics