Three straight weeks at home. Why the Coca-Cola 600 caps an important time for NASCAR
There’s not a day on the NASCAR calendar where the Cup Series garage is more full than Sunday.
Families populate the area where pit crews are putting the finishing touches on their teams’ race cars. Whether or not drivers in NASCAR’s highest series are from — or their families live in — the Charlotte area, the Coca-Cola 600 continually seems to just bring everybody out.
NASCAR has been expanding its schedule into new strategic growth markets, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Nashville. Still, the sport knows its ratings, viewership and fan data are strongest in the Carolinas.
During arguably the biggest weekend in racing, popularly known as “Motorsports Christmas,” NASCAR stays true to its roots. While Formula 1 holds its yearly spectacle at Monaco and more than 300,000 gather for the Indy 500, stock car racing’s four main circuits assemble in Concord.
“It’s important for us to have a presence here,” Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development and strategy, said in an interview. “We always talk about turning the page and going to new markets — like Chicago and L.A. — but it’s just as important to celebrate a lot of our markets where we have history and roots.”
Three straight weeks in the Carolinas
Including Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR hosted its past three Cup Series races within 100 miles of Charlotte.
“I feel like I haven’t been on a plane in a long time,” Daniel Suarez said with a laugh. “This is probably the coolest weekend of the year.”
Consecutive races at Darlington, North Wilkesboro and Charlotte weren’t by accident. NASCAR knows its roots are in the Carolinas, and with a spotlight on motorsports leading up to Memorial Day weekend, that’s where it wants to be.
“Our first — what became known as the — Cup Series race was at Charlotte Speedway,” Kennedy explained. “Even though Daytona is our headquarters and home of NASCAR LLC, Charlotte in a lot of ways is home for the rest of the industry.”
The Cup Series’ roots trace back to Charlotte
Charlotte Speedway, a defunct 0.75-mile race track off Wilkinson Boulevard that closed in 1956, hosted the sport’s first premier series race on June 19, 1949.
It was originally known as the Strictly Stock Series and featured seven races in its inaugural 1949 season, starting at Charlotte and culminating at North Wilkesboro in October.
This Carolina swing is often referred to as a homecoming on the NASCAR schedule, for both the industry and the sport’s fans.
“The coolest part about it — obviously we come back here in the fall — is that this particular run of races, you can drive any direction and see NASCAR being pushed,” said Daniel Hemric, a Cup driver from Kannapolis. “That’s not something you get year-round.”
Not only do many race fans live in the area, but many NASCAR and up-and-coming tracks are in the states surrounding North and South Carolina.
Darlington, which hosts a yearly throwback weekend, is a longtime NASCAR staple. The history and lore at North Wilkesboro speak for themselves. And then a celebration of our nation’s military at Charlotte ahead of Memorial Day caps it off.
