| Phoenix Raceway | |
| |
|---|---|
| Location | 7602 South Avondale Boulevard Avondale, Arizona 85323 |
| Capacity | 67,000 |
| Owner | International Speedway Corporation |
| Opened | 1964 |
| Major events | NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals 500 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Xfinity Series United Rentals 200 Xfinity Series Championship Race Craftsman Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 |
| "D"-shaped Tri-oval | |
| Length | 1 mi (1.6 km) |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Banking | Turns 1 & 2: 10-12° Turns 3 & 4: 8-9° Backstretch: 10-12° Frontstretch: 3° |
Phoenix Raceway is a one-mile tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It opened in 1964 but wasn't used by NASCAR until 1988, with the first race being won by the late Alan Kulwicki. After winning, Kulwicki debuted his Polish Victory Lap. It is an unusual tri-oval shape, more like a "D" shape. This is because the owner did not wish to alter the infield road course to accommodate a traditional NASCAR oval. In the past, several leagues including the NASCAR Southwest and the USAC Silver Crown Series have been hosted at the track. It has since been used by IndyCar and an infield road course has been used by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The infield road course was redesigned in 1991, taking its current form on 1.51 miles long and 11 turns.
In 1996, the capacity of reserved seats at the track grew to over 65,000 and in 1997, the track was bought by the ISC. In the summer of 2003, the wall coming off turn 2 was moved out to increase the safety of the drivers. In the winter of 2004, lights were installed at the track to accommodate the first of two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series dates of 2005. In 2005, the track hosted a second NASCAR race, replacing the spring race formerly held at Darlington Raceway, in South Carolina. After the 2005 season, the Bobby Allison grandstand was expanded in the vicinity of Turns 1 and 2. After the March 2011 race, construction on the track began by paving over the grass below the backstretch dogleg. The 2014 Phoenix race was the first race to include qualifying with multiple cars on tracks other than Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen.
Major events[]
- NASCAR Cup Series - United Rentals 500 (March); NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (November)
- Xfinity Series - United Rentals 200 (March); Xfinity Series Championship Race (November)
- Craftsman Truck Series - Lucas Oil 150
Records[]
NASCAR Cup Series[]
- Qualifying Record: Jimmie Johnson, 25.147 sec. (146.308 mph), 2015
- Race Record: Tony Stewart, 2 hrs. 38 min. 28 sec. (118.132 mph), 1999
NASCAR Xfinity Series[]
- Qualifying Record: Kyle Busch, 25.992 sec. (141.933 mph), 2015
- Race Record: Jeff Burton, 1 hr. 44 min. 13 sec. (115.145 mph), 2000
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series[]
- Qualifying Record: Erik Jones, 26.179 sec. (137.515 mph), 2015
- Race Record: Kevin Harvick, 1 hr. 24 min. 26 sec. (108.104 mph), 2002
See also[]
External links[]
- Phoenix Raceway official site
- High-resolution image from Google Maps