World's Fastest Half-Mile

NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, was born out of the days when bootleggers and moonshiners would soup up their "stock" cars to be able to out-run law enforcement officers.  Today, NASCAR is the largest spectator sport in the United States, and names like Talladega, Darlington and Daytona are familiar to the legions of race fans.  So, too, is the Bristol Motor Speedway, but it could just as easily have been the Piney Flats Motor Speedway.

Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN

The Bruton Smith Building, across the parking lot from the track, houses corporate
offices, ticket sales and will-call windows, and the gift shop.  When you own the track,
you can name the building after yourself.

Rather than using numbers or letters, the seating areas in the grandstands
and terrace sections are named for NASCAR stars

Used by both vehicle and pedestrians, this entrance has a tunnel that goes under the
the track, allowing access even when there are race cars on the track.

When Carl Moore, Larry Carrier and R.G. Pope were getting ready to build the track, the site initially chosen was in Piney Flats, a small community seven miles south of the current location. But when the community learned that the track would sell beer during the races, they rejected the proposal and a dairy farm in Bristol was, instead, selected as the site for the new racetrack. The Bristol International Speedway, its original name, would seat 18,000 fans and the track was a one-half mile oval, more intimate, the builders thought, than the 1.5 mile track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The track opened in 1961 at a cost for 100 acres of farm land and construction of the track of approximately $600,000...roughly $4.73 million today, adjusting for inflation. The pole position for the first race held there - the Volunteer 500 - was claimed by driver Fred Lorenzen, with a speed of 79.225 mph. Seventeen year old country music star Brenda Lee sang the National Anthem before that first race.

Bristol Motor Speedway has seating for approximately 160,000 fans,
double the 80,000 seats in the Dallas Cowboys' stadium in Arlington, TX.

Standing in the infield, looking up at the luxury suites, including
the owner's suite, at the Bristol Motor Speedway

The venue has changed hands several times. It was sold after the 1976 season to businessmen Lanny Hester and Gary Baker. In the spring of 1978 the name was changed to Bristol International Raceway. In April 1982 Lanny Hester sold his half of the speedway to Warner Hodgdon. By July 1983, Hodgdon owned 100% of Bristol with the purchase of Gary Baker's share. Hodgdon named Larry Carrier, one of the original owners of the facility, as the track's General Manager. Less than three years later, on January 11, 1985, as a result of many of his other businesses hitting hard times, Hodgdon filed for bankruptcy. Larry Carrier formally took possession of the speedway and covered all outstanding debts. In 1996, O. Bruton Smith, the current owner, purchased Bristol International Raceway from Carrier for $26 million. Within a few months, the name had officially been changed to Bristol Motor Speedway.

Turns 1 and 2 from the owner's suite, and a view of some of the
52 luxury skyboxes on the backstretch that were added in 2002

View of the Turn 4 grandstands from the owner's suite.  Glass walls (where the
pillar is located at the end of the row of seats) separates the luxury skyboxes
resulting in a very open feeling and providing a panoramic view of the track.

The track has been improved and enlarged throughout its history. The racing surface has been completely re-built several times, most recently in 2007. Turns have been banked even more steeply than originally designed as the speed of the cars increased. (Our tour guide told us that the turns are banked about 24 degrees at the lower edge, increasing to 28 degrees near the wall.) One modification increased the length of the track from a half-mile or 2,640 feet to a distance of 2,814 feet (0.533 miles) at the marks. 

Turn 2 at BMS.  Our tour included a couple of laps around the track,
just to get the feel of how steep the banked turns really are.

Turns 1 and 2 from the backstretch grandstands. The tire shop is the
building in the center, and pit row is behind the barrier, between the
large letters on the track and the white tent.

The Winner's Circle. This area is actually on the roof of the building
that is used for drivers' meeting, and the winning car is driven
up a ramp at the side of the building to the Winner's Circle.  

Seating capacity has been increased as well. Originally designed for 18,000, the track seated 71,000 by the time Bruton Smith bought it in 1996. He immediately added 15,000 seats, bringing it up to 86,000. In August 2002, work began on a new backstretch grandstand that would increase the track’s seating capacity to an estimated 155,000. The backstretch now includes three levels of seating and features 52 luxury skybox suites. By August of 2005, construction was complete on the last 35 luxury suites at Bristol Motor Speedway. Between the grandstand seating and the 87 luxury suites, the total seating capacity is right at 160,000. 

Inside the owner's luxury suite at Bristol Motor Speedway

The bar in the owner's suite is very well stocked

Stained glass skylight in the owner's suite

View of turn 3 and the Winner's Circle from the owner's suite

This building in the infield is a full-service tire shop.  The photo was
taken from the front seating area of the owner's suite.  Bush's Beans,
a Tennessee company, is a major sponsor.

In the Spring of 2013 Kyle Busch set a new qualifying record, taking just 14.813 seconds to make a 129.535 mph lap around the half-mile. Compare that to the 79.225 mph qualifying lap that earned Fred Lorenzen the pole position in 1961.

A sign over the vehicle entrance to the track reads "Welcome to the Last Great Colosseum." For fifty-four years, the Gladiators of NASCAR have been doing battle in the town of Bristol that sits straddling the Tennessee / Virginia state line.

Vehicle entrance to Bristol Motor Speedway.  This is the only
way to get race cars and other vehicles into the track

The site also features a NHRA-sanctioned drag strip named THUNDER VALLEY.
These are the luxury suites looking down at the drag strip's starting line.

A view down the drag strip from the starting line.  After a quarter-mile race, drivers have
an additional half mile of track to "shut down".  The track record speed is 326.79 mph.

Poster advertising the National Hot Rod Association's THUNDER VALLEY
NATIONALS racing at Bristol, June 19-21, 2015

In the fall of 2016, BMS will host a football game between Virginia Tech and Tennessee.
The entire infield will be covered with turf.  Planning for this game  began almost 15 years ago.

The "countdown clock" located in the lobby of the Bruton Smith Building features an
artist's concept of what the track will look like when converted to a football stadium

As we bid farewell to our tour guide, we asked, as we usually do, for a recommendation for a local restaurant, and were directed to Ridgewood Barbecue, a small place up in the hills outside of town, with the assurance that it had "the best barbecue in all of Tennessee."  ESPN, Good Morning America, People magazine and USA Today all agree, as do the mob of people waiting for a table.

Ridgewood Barbecue serves award-winning food that has been
featured on television as well as in many print articles

Memphis-style sandwich with slaw on top.  The beans and fries
are the smaller serving, about half the size of their normal portions.

For the folks in this eastern Tennessee city, the whole experience can be summed up and explained in just three words:  "It's Bristol, baby!"  It's the World's Fastest Half-Mile.  And it is a wealth of Road Stories. 

Bristol Motor Speedway...the World's Fastest Half-Mile

Learn more about Bristol Motor Speedway and Thunder Valley at their web site http://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com/home/