Known as The Last Great Colosseum, Bristol Motor Speedway's stadium-like structure serves as a versatile multi-use venue that hosts major auto races, football games, concerts and many other captivating events.

Bristol Motor Speedway

The legendary short track claims its banking is 36 degrees, which is kind of like falling off a roof, but recent resurfacing has probably put it at closer to 24 to 30 degrees. The half-mile track is so small that a full 43-car field stretches halfway around the track.

How many laps is the Cup race at Bristol? The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is 500 laps around the 0.533-mile oval for a total of 266.5 miles. The race will feature three segments (laps per stage) - Stage 1: 125 laps; Stage 2: 125 laps; Stage 3: 250 laps.

Speedway is popular in Central and Northern Europe and to a lesser extent in Australia and North America. A variant of track racing, speedway is administered internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).

Speedway racing for motorcycles began much later, originating in Australia in the 1920s. It also became popular in Europe by the 1930s and remained so. The racing is done on small, flat, oval tracks with lightweight motorcycles that have small fuel tanks and no brakes.

Typical Speedway league racing is run between two teams over 15 heats (races) which each consist of four laps. Each team has 7 riders with 2 riders from each team taking part in each heat with a simple objective – to beat the opposition and get to the chequered flag first!

Bristol Motor Speedway is a concrete half-mile track in the mountains of Bristol, TN. Bristol was built in 1960, and has been nicknamed “The World's Fastest Half-Mile”, “Thunder Valley”, and “The Last Great Colosseum”.

Bristol is the world's biggest manufacturers of hot air balloons with Cameron Balloons based in the city. Ribena was invented in Bristol at the National Fruit and Cider institute and marketed as a health drink due to its high concentration of Vitamin C.

The sport's popularity was cemented in the early 00s when the Ekstraliga was founded. It is now considered the most popular league in the world, and was attended by a staggering 700,000 fans during the 2019 season.

But Bristol is one of NASCAR's crown jewel racetracks, the signature “Last Great Colosseum” where the racing is typically compelling. Having only one “real” race per year at Bristol (the annual Night Race, which occurs again Saturday night) is not enough and it didn't make sense to cover a terrific track with dirt.

Drivers must know when to point the front tires away from the turn, instead of into it, waiting for the rear end to come around, ready to follow. Bristol dirt laps should run around 7 seconds and 37 mph slower than the 14.8-second, 129 mph concrete pace.