Facts & Figures

Motorsports Fact Sheet

North Carolina is the heart of motorsports: 

In the NASCAR shops 

• More than 80 percent of NASCAR Sprint Cup teams, 72 percent of Nationwide Series teams and half of the Camping World Truck Series teams call the state home, according to the Charlotte Chamber. 
• Many of the shops offer viewing areas and souvenir shops for fans to get a behind-the-scenes look year-round.
• More than 80 percent of NASCAR Sprint Cup teams, 72 percent of Nationwide Series teams and half of the Camping World Truck Series teams call the state home, according to the Charlotte Chamber.
• Many of the shops offer viewing areas and souvenir shops for fans to get a behind-the-scenes look year-round.
• Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, Richard Childress Racing in Welcome and the Richard Petty Museum in Randleman offer fans a look through their histories with museums.

In shorter distances

• Racing on paved ovals occurs weekly at short-tracks of half-mile or less in communities across the state, including Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem and Caraway Speedway in Asheboro. Divisions include modifieds, late models and a variety of street stock classes.
• In November, Concord Motorsports Park in Concord hosts the North-South Shootout, which pits teams from NASCAR’s New England-based Whelen Modified Tour against teams from its Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
• Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton is a one-third mile oval that saw current NASCAR stars Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers and Denny Hamlin cut their racing teeth.

In the dirt

• Drivers aren't afraid to leave the blacktop. The state is home to several dirt tracks - including Carolina Speedway in Gastonia and Fayetteville Motor Speedway in Fayetteville that host a variety of series.
• Late models are the most popular of the cars that race on dirt. At about 2,300 pounds and with 700 horsepower, the cars are known for carrying their left front wheels more than two feet of the ground as they power slide through the corners.
• The Dirt Track @ Charlotte Motor Speedway plays host to the World Finals for the World of Outlaws late model and sprint car series in November. Fans from nearly every state in the country travel to the Concord facility to see champions crowned at the conclusion of the three-night event.

In a straight line

• The zMax Dragway @ Concord is the only four-lane, all concrete drag strip in the country. It has earned the nickname the “Bellagio of drag strips,” thanks to its fan amenities and expansive grandstands.
• NHRA Top Fuel drag racer Doug Herbert, a perennial threat to win the championship, bases his team in Lincolnton, along with a large high-performance parts retail operation that serves racers across the country.
• Rockingham Dragway, located across the street from Rockingham Speedway outside the Richmond County community of the same name, hosts regular events for all levels of drag racing - from shade-tree mechanics to professional drivers.

In the past

• Many of the early NASCAR drivers were former bootleggers, who ran illegal moonshine through the mountains of western North Carolina in hot-rod cars during, and just after, Prohibition.
• Former bootlegger, early NASCAR driving star and winning car owner Junior Johnson now puts his name on Midnight Moon moonshine, which can be purchased at liquor stores throughout the state. He also markets his own brand of country ham that can be found in supermarkets.
• The Dale Trail is a self-guided tour of places in and around Kannapolis that played important parts in the life of legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, who was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

In the classroom

• Belmont Abbey in Belmont, which boasts longtime Charlotte Motor Speedway promoter “Humpy” Wheeler as a graduate, launched a motor-sports program in 2006. Graduates earn a four-year degree focused on the business and management side of the sport.
• UNC Charlotte offers a motor sports and automotive engineering program.
• NASCAR Tech in Mooresville offers training that includes how to work on and build race cars, helping to groom employees for many of the locally based teams.
• NASCAR operates a research and development facility in Concord that works to cut costs and improve safety for owners and drivers.
• Driving schools – such as the Richard Petty Driving Experience – use the Charlotte Motor Speedway to give fans rides in two-seat stock cars at racing speeds and to teach classes to race-car drivers who are looking to improve.

In the media

• Based in Charlotte, cable television network SPEED brings a variety of racing-related programs including event coverage, talk, news and how-to shows to more than 78 million homes in North America.
• Longstanding trade publication National Speed Sport News is based in Harrisburg. It covers all forms of motor sports and is sold at race tracks and sent to fans’ mailboxes across the country.
• NASCAR Images in Charlotte specializes in coverage of NASCAR events, producing several programs seen on the SPEED and CMT cable networks.

In and around Charlotte

• When parts supplier Holman-Moody set up shop at the Charlotte airport in the mid-1950s, race teams followed to be close to their main supplier. The city was also convenient to almost all of the tracks in the then-Southern sport.
• In 2010, NASCAR will open its Hall of Fame in Charlotte. The Queen City out-dueled other cities including Atlanta and Daytona, Florida, for the honor. It’s expected to bring in 400,000 visitors and $62 million annually to the economy.
• The North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame in Mooresville is home to exhibits including race cars from all forms of motor sports and an art gallery - both detailing North Carolina’s racing heritage. Each year, the museum inducts racing greats into its Hall of Fame.

In a racing weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway

• Each of the three NASCAR events welcomes about 200,000 fans. During the course of a year, about 1 million people visit the facility for everything from tours to car shows to races.
• The influx of fans at each race pushes the speedway to the fourth largest city in North Carolina. It trails just Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro.
• The speedway cooks 15,000 pounds of hot dogs and 10,000 pounds of hamburgers for fans to eat at each race.

By Peter Anderson

added: December 10, 2008

updated: March 2, 2010