Welcome to the Charlotte Motor Speedway!! The speedway has a long history beginning in 1959 when Bruton Smith and his partner, Curtis Turner, had a vision that over time has evolved into one of North Carolina's top 10 tourist attractions. The first World 600 NASCAR race was held here in June of 1960 and then in December of 1961, the speedway filed for bankruptcy and Bruton Smith left his vision in the hands of his creditors while he pursued other business interests. A group of major stockholders secured money to keep the speedway afloat and in April 1963, the speedway emerged from bankruptcy and in 4 years, the entire debt was paid.
Bruton Smith, however, couldn't let his vision go so he began buying stock in the speedway soon after he left and by 1975 he became the majority stockholder and he regained control of it's day-to-day operations. The entire complex eventually grew to a 2000 acre complex. This time his vision became a reality. Soon, new grandstands and luxury suites were added, followed by the 7 story Smith Tower complete with a luxury dining and entertainment facility.
The track is home to a lot of "FIRSTS" which reflects the vision of Bruton Smith.
1) The FIRST 600 mile NASCAR race
2) The FIRST sports facility to offer year round living accommodations via 40 condos in turn 1
3) The FIRST modern speedway to host night racing by adding 1200 light fixtures around the track
4) In 1995 Lowe's bought the naming rights making it the FIRST race track in the America with a corporate sponsor.... the track was named Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2010
5) The FIRST and ONLY all-concrete four lane drag strip in the United States, the ZMAX Dragway. It is located across the street within the 2000 acre complex.
In 2010 the track formed a partnership with a major electronics firm to install the World's LARGEST HD Video Board. The video board measures 200 ft long and 80 ft tall and contains over 9 million LEDs. You can drive right up to the back of the display to really appreciate the size of that TV. It has since been surpassed in size by the Video Board installed at the Texas Motor Speedway.
It hasn't always been a total success. In May of 2000, one of the pedestrian bridges to your left (if you are facing the main entrance) collapsed injuring 107 fans. That incident is considered to be one of the BIGGEST disasters in NASCAR history.
The Charlotte Motor Speedway is not just a racetrack that hosts a couple of big races every year. It is one the busiest sports venues in the entire country and is host to over over 380 events every year, such as the American Idol Auditions in 2012 and the World premier of Pixars 2006 film "Cars" on the huge HD Video Board. It has been the location for movies (Days of Thunder)and still hosts several driving schools where you get to actually drive a race car around the track. In the mid 80's, Bruton Smith tried to lure professional football to the stadium but that never materialized.
To qualify for this cache, message me the answers to questions 1-3:
1) Standing at the posted coords (the center of the emblem behind the main flag) and looking back toward the entrance you probably drove through, how many flagpoles are visible? (Hint: The number exceeds 3 dozen)
2) To your left, if you are standing at GZ and facing the building, is a unique water tower. I have included it as an additional waypoint if needed. What is it a replica of?
3) In the black and white array of paving stones leading up to GZ, most of the white blocks are a tribute to drivers and what they used to be successful in their profession. One paver however, is different from ALL the others. Who is this a tribute to and what do you think they are known for?
4) Photos are fun but not required!!
Thanks for visiting my Virtual Reward 2.0 and I hope you will take some time to visit the other sections of this 2000 acre complex. Drive around to the backstretch and get a visual of just how large the HD Video Board really is.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.