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111-589: Kansas Speedway (formerly known as Kansas International Speedway in initial planning and construction stages) is a 1.500 mi (2.414 km) tri-oval intermediate speedway in Kansas City, Kansas . The track, since its inaugural season of racing in 2001, has hosted a variety of racing series, including NASCAR , IndyCar , and the IMSA SportsCar Championship . The track has been owned by NASCAR since 2019, with Patrick Warren serving as

222-403: A " roval " (a blend word combining "road course" and "oval") is an oval track racing facility that features a road course in the infield (and/or outfield), that is usually linked to the oval circuit. This type of course makes for a multi-purpose track, and allows the facility to be used for both oval and road racing. A typical combined road course consists of the oval portion of the track, using

333-510: A 1/8 mile version. Perhaps the most unusual concentric oval facility is Dover Speedway- Dover Downs . The one-mile oval track encompasses a 0.625-mile harness racing track inside. Oval tracks usually have slope in both straight and in curves, but the slope on the straights is less, circuits without any slope are rare to find, low-slope are usually old or small tracks, high gradient are more common in new circuits. Circuits like Milwaukee Mile and Indianapolis Motor Speedway have 9° banking in

444-626: A 500-lap or 400-lap distance. Short tracks in many cases have lights installed and routinely host night races. The short ovals still form the backbone of NASCAR in the feeder series. Three race tracks of this type are also represented in the Cup: Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond. Tracks with potential for future cup races are the Iowa Speedway built in 2006, the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway used until 1984 in

555-641: A Grand Prix event at the newly-constructed road course at the track. The race was first run on August 17, 2013, and was run for a second time in June 2014. The track is one of the Richard Petty Driving Experience 's tracks that the general public can drive racecars on; an official announcement was made in 2000. Since 2016, the track has been the host of the American Royal World Series of BBQ competition. In 2011,

666-613: A June 2009 date; however, this was later slated to sometime later in the year. In addition, the Cordish Corporation threatened to end their partnership due to a local Kansas City proposed law banning indoor smoking, but they later backtracked the threat; the city later gave exemptions to the casino for smoking. However, in December, as part of consequences due to the Great Recession , the partnership backed out, with

777-448: A bachelor's degree or higher was estimated to be 20.9% of the population. 32.1% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.9 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older, there were 104.9 males. The 2016-2020 5-year American Community Survey estimates show that

888-422: A concentric 1/4-mile oval layout. The 1/4-mile layout became a popular venue for legends car racing . The name "legends oval" was derived from this use. They have also seen use with go-karts, short track stock cars, and other lower disciplines. This idea was adopted by numerous tracks including Texas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway , Las Vegas Motor Speedway , and Iowa Speedway which has

999-437: A concrete retaining wall separating the track from the fans. Innovations have been made to change this, however. The SAFER barrier was created to provide a less dangerous alternative to a traditional concrete wall. The barrier can be retrofitted onto an existing wall or may take the place of a concrete wall completely. Oval tracks are classified based upon their size, surface, banking, and shape. Their size can range from only

1110-430: A corner. On a short track in a 25-lap feature race, a driver might not run any two laps with the same line. Both types of racing place physical demands on the driver. A driver in an IndyCar race at Richmond International Raceway may be subject to as many lateral g-forces (albeit in only one direction) as a Formula One driver at Silverstone . Weather also plays a different role in each discipline. Road racing offers

1221-714: A few hundred feet to over two and a half miles. The definitions used to differentiate track sizes have changed over the years. While some tracks use terms such as "speedway" or "superspeedway" in their name, they may not meet the specific definitions used in this article. A short track is an oval track less than one mile (1.6 km) long, with the majority being 0.5 miles (0.8 km) or shorter. Drivers seeking careers in oval track racing generally serve their apprenticeship on short tracks before moving up to series which compete on larger tracks. Due to their short length and fast action, these tracks are often nicknamed " bullrings ". Professional-level NASCAR races on short tracks usually use

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1332-551: A firm associated with the track predicted a "one-time" event's revenue to rake in $ 12.8 million in tax revenue, with $ 6.1 million in the years following after. In a groundbreaking celebration on May 25, 1999, the track received positive reviews from drivers Bobby Labonte , Rusty Wallace , and Ken Schrader . In March 2000, when local Kansas lawmakers visited the track, the track drew praise from state senators Nancey Harrington and Ben Vidricksen . By August 2000, 80% of tickets were sold for its NASCAR Winston Cup Series race. In October,

1443-468: A length of one mile or more. Since the introduction of the intermediate oval, Superspeedway is an oval race course of 2 miles or longer. There are six active superspeedways in the United States, the most famous being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway , both 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. These tracks were built in 1909 and 1959 respectively. Indianapolis Motor Speedway

1554-445: A lot of oval tracks, which neither have a classical geometric shape nor still represent a modern tri-oval in the strict sense. While these courses still technically fall under the category of ovals, their unique shape, flat corners, hard braking zones, or increased difficulty, often produces driving characteristics similar to those of a road course. Some facilities feature several ovals track of different sizes, often sharing part of

1665-402: A new $ 236.6 million retail outlet development was announced to be built upon 250 acres of land surrounding the track, with an opening date slated for 2002. In April, the first testing runs were made by ARCA driver Ryan Newman . Aside from the initial criticism and lawsuits from some local residents, the project was met with optimism throughout construction. According to The Kansas City Star ,

1776-449: A notable exception. Many 1-mile dirt ovals were used by stock cars or champ cars before race tracks with dirt surfaces were removed from the racing calendar in the early 1970s. Many of these racetracks got the nickname "Fairgrounds” — for example Arizona State Fairgrounds , California State Fairgrounds and Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway . The origin of these racetracks was in harness racing , which commonly used 1-mile tracks. Also,

1887-562: A property owner, filed another lawsuit on the basis that she wanted to "learn terms of all contract agreements with property owners" according to her lawyer, accusing the defendants of incentive payments being made out in a discriminatory manner. Attorney Nick Tomasic sought to get the Kansas Supreme Court to directly hear the case to prevent any further delays; however, this was declined by the Kansas Supreme Court. By mid-October, although most residents were expected to move out by

1998-413: A seventh proposal was added, along with the track proposal stating that no eminent domain land would be used. By December, the government heard three proposals. The project later received criticism from government watchdog group Americans For Prosperity-Kansas for being too related and being funded by revenue bonds or prior tax financing; something the group argued was illegal under Kansas law. By March 2008,

2109-461: A stand-alone road course layout(s) in the infield not directly linked to the oval layout, or otherwise using only a short portion of the oval. Combined road courses combine the high speed characteristics of ovals with the technical precision of road courses . It allows road racing disciplines the unique experience of being held in the stadium style atmosphere of an oval superspeedway. Numerous combined road courses saw widespread use with sports cars in

2220-632: A tax break until 2027 barring a change in Kansas law; a proposed bill planned to extend the abatement period from 20 years to 30. The tax breaks sparked debates in the Kansas legislature over the length of tax breaks. After passing through both the Kansas House of Representatives and the Kansas Senate , the tax breaks were signed by Bill Graves , the Governor of Kansas . With the purchase of

2331-533: A variety of fast and slow corners that allow the use of rain tires . Paved oval tracks generally do not run with a wet track surface. Dirt ovals will sometimes support a light rain. Some tracks (e.g., Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA) have "rain or shine" rules requiring races to be run in the rain. Safety has also been a point of difference between the two. While a road course usually has abundant run-off areas , gravel traps, and tire barriers, oval tracks usually have

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2442-606: Is 3 miles from western Gardner. It opened in May 2013 and employs about 200. According to the city's 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are: The mayor of Gardner is Todd Winters, who was sworn in on December 6, 2021. The city council is made up of five (5) at-large members, each of whom serve rotating 4-year terms. Gardner is part of the USD 231 school district. Located in Gardner are six out of

2553-759: Is Gardner Lake on the north side of town off of S Gardner Road and 151st Street. Gardner is also the genesis point of Kill Creek which runs north joining with the Kansas River in De Soto . The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Gardner has a humid subtropical climate , abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The 2020 United States census counted 23,287 people, 8,005 households, and 5,938 families in Gardner. The population density

2664-408: Is connected to the main oval track to create a " roval ". During the track's construction in 2000, then-track president Grant Lynch stated that initial plans for the track included an infield road course. The road course was constructed in 2012 as part of renovations made to the track. The road course is 2.37 miles (3.81 km) long, with the infield portion of the course having six turns. The track

2775-502: Is often referred to as " restrictor plate racing " because NASCAR mandates that each car on its two longest high-banked ovals, Talladega and Daytona , use an air restrictor to reduce horsepower . The results of pack racing may vary. As drivers are forced to race in a confined space, overtaking is very common as vehicles may travel two and three abreast. This forces drivers to use strong mental discipline in negotiating traffic. There are drawbacks, however. Should an accident occur at

2886-449: Is served by numerous major roads. The track is next to an intersection of the concurrent Interstate 70 , U.S. Route 24 , and U.S. Route 40 , and Interstate 435 . At the time of the track's construction, the complex covered 1,250 acres, had a capacity of around 75,000, and had 65 rows of grandstand seating. As of 2019, the track has a current capacity of 48,000, down from its previous 64,000 according to annual reports from ISC. At its peak,

2997-560: Is the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama . Built in 1969, it is 2.66 miles (4.28 kilometers) long, and holds the current record for fastest speed in a stock car, lapping at an average of 216.309 mph (348.116 km/h) and reaching 228 mph (367 km/h) at the end of the backstretch. Daytona and Talladega are the pinnacle of stock car superspeedway racing, where restrictor plates are mandated by

3108-674: Is themed after the Hollywood area in Los Angeles , California . The casino opened in February 2012. As part of the oval track construction boom in the 1990s, in December 1996, the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) announced preliminary plans to find a location to build a $ 100 million, 120,000-seat capacity track. An official for ISC, John Story, mentioned that the Kansas City metropolitan area

3219-682: The MotoGP races were run counter-clockwise, with some reconfigured corners to fix corner apex problems. Michigan was also an example of a clockwise combined road course. Another example is the Adelaide International Raceway in Australia which combines a 2.41 km (1.50 mi) road course with an 0.805 km (0.500 mi) speedway bowl. The Bowl forms a permanent part of the road course and also runs clockwise. At many tracks, multiple configurations are available for

3330-522: The 2020 census , the population of the city was 23,287. It is located within the Kansas City metropolitan area . Gardner was founded where the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon / California Trails divided. The Santa Fe Trail sent travelers southwest through Santa Fe and Albuquerque toward Los Angeles and San Diego. The Oregon/California Trails bore west for a few miles before turning north toward

3441-548: The 24 Hours of Daytona . Since 2018, NASCAR has held the Bank of America Roval 400 on a combined course at Charlotte . In some rare examples, the combined road course layout is run in the opposite direction to the oval circuit. For instance, at Indianapolis the oval is run counter-clockwise, but the combined road course used during the IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Indianapolis is run clockwise. However

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3552-648: The Indy Racing League announced races for the 2001 IRL season, with the race being held in July. In 2007, the race was moved to late April from its usual American Independence Day weekend. The track's annual IndyCar race ran annually until 2010, with IndyCar deciding not to renew in 2011 due to schedule conflicts with NASCAR and a second NASCAR race weekend date at the track. In 2012, the Rolex Sports Car Series announced that they would run

3663-424: The 1970s and early 1980s. However, their use at the professional level has since diminished considerably, since most layouts lacked the desirable topography and competitive challenges of natural road courses. In addition, most combined road course circuits offer poor sightlines for fans sitting in the grandstands. Oftentimes the challenging infield portion is obscured or not visible at all from the grandstands that line

3774-867: The 2000s were of this type. These include the Chicago Motor Speedway and the Walt Disney World Speedway , which were built during the 1990s construction boom but used for only four years. The historic Nazareth Speedway , which was paved in 1986, was completely abandoned after the 2004 season. Physically, many mile oval still exist such as the Rockingham Speedway and the Pikes Peak International Raceway . However, these racetracks have not been used by nationally important motorsports events for years. There are only three 1-mile tracks left on

3885-474: The Cordish Corporation to compete with five other proposals that planned to build near the area, including competition from Las Vegas Sands and Pinnacle Entertainment . With this, the Unified Government opted to hear all proposals by the end of the year, with all proposals having varying budgets. The track later stated that their 500-room hotel and casino would cost around $ 600 million. In October,

3996-683: The Cup, and the Memphis Motorsports Park, which had races of the Busch Series back then until the 2000s. The Auto Club Speedway is to be converted from a 2-mile super speedway to a 1/2 mile short track in 2024. Synonymous with the name, a 1-mile (1.61 km) oval is a popular and common length for oval track racing. The exact measurements, however, can vary by as much as a tenth of a mile and still fall into this category. Most mile ovals are relatively flat-banked, with Dover being

4107-586: The Kansas River valley, followed the Big Blue River into present-day Nebraska, followed the Platte River west, and ultimately split in present-day Wyoming, Idaho or Utah. Gardner was founded as a Free-Stater settlement in 1857. Settled primarily by emigrants from Massachusetts, it was named for Henry Gardner , then governor of Massachusetts . Four years after its establishment, it became

4218-416: The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that state-owned casinos were constitutional, resuming the bid for a casino near the track. Two months later, Lesa France Kennedy endorsed the track's bid, adding the promise of a second NASCAR Cup Series race weekend if the Kansas government chose the track's proposal. The next month, the track promised the addition of an infield road course if they were selected. Three days before

4329-521: The NASCAR racing calendar: Phoenix, Loudon, and Dover. IndyCar only returned to 1-mile oval racing with the addition of the Milwaukee Mile in 2024 after 9 years of it being off the schedule. Also referred to with the general term of "speedway", these courses are 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 km) in length, but the term is particularly reserved for 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tracks. At the beginning of

4440-552: The age of 18 and 6.9% of those ages 65 or over. As of the census of 2010, there were 19,123 people, 6,644 households, and 4,938 families living in the city. The population density was 1,889.6 inhabitants per square mile (729.6/km ). There were 7,300 housing units at an average density of 721.3 per square mile (278.5/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 89.7% White , 3.0% African American , 0.5% Native American , 1.9% Asian , 1.8% from other races , and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.2% of

4551-408: The back straight of the oval. As they are separate tracks, this creates a unique situation where different races can actually be run on both the oval and the full road course at the same time. Also unique is that unlike most combined circuits which use the oval track's start/finish line and pits, in the case of Calder Park it is the road course start/finish line and pits that are used. This configuration

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4662-467: The bill was too low along with chances of potential government corruption. By March 2005, Doug Mays , speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives, declared that the tribes' compact was killed in the current session unless they allowed the state to inspect slot machines. Within the next two years, four more proposals were made. In 2007, another proposal was made in a joint venture by the track and

4773-514: The cars coming towards and moving away from their vantage point. Traditional ovals (such as Indianapolis ) offered only limited linear views of the course, and required fans to look back and forth much like a tennis match. The tri-oval shape prevents fans from having to "lean" to see oncoming cars, and creates more forward sight lines. The modern tri-ovals were often called as cookie cutters because of their (nearly) identical shape and identical kind of races. Additional prominent examples: There are

4884-414: The casino opening to the public on February 3, 2012. On July 8, 2011, the track announced renovations to the track, including a repaving and reconfiguration of the oval track, and the addition of a new infield road course. Among said changes to the track were an increase of variable banking from 15 degrees to 20 degrees. The track has seen a capacity decline in recent years; according to ISC archive records,

4995-415: The circumference of the oval track, so many fans choose to view from the ground level inside the infield – leaving the grandstands mostly empty and unsightly. Many combined road course layouts have been abandoned. However, some have enjoyed extended life as venues for testing, driving schools, and amateur race meets . Since 1962, the most famous race continuously held on a combined road course has been

5106-427: The city. The population density was 1,898.5 inhabitants per square mile (733.0/km ). There were 3,533 housing units at an average density of 713.8 per square mile (275.6/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 94.13% White , 1.21% African American , 0.49% Native American , 1.05% Asian , 0.01% Pacific Islander , 1.26% from other races , and 1.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.99% of

5217-601: The combined road course layout(s). An example of an outfield combined road course can be seen at the Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne , Australia . The Calder Park complex has a 1.119 mi (1.801 km) high-banked oval speedway called the Thunderdome as well as a separate road course. The road course and the oval can be linked via two short roads that connect the front straight of the road course to

5328-470: The decision, Pinnacle withdrew their proposal as part of consequences of Unified Government officials appearing in a promotional video along with stagnation in the United States' economy. On September 19, Kansas Lottery gave the track and the Cordish Corporation their approval to build a $ 705 million casino branded under the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino name. The first phase of opening was slated for

5439-521: The driver does not have to shift gears nearly as frequently, brake as heavily or as often, or deal with turns of various radii in both directions as in road racing, drivers are still challenged by negotiating the track. Where there is generally one preferred line around a road course, there are many different lines that can work on an oval track. The preferred line depends on many factors including track conditions, car set-up, and traffic. The oval track driver must choose which line to use each time they approach

5550-486: The drivers, IndyCar will no longer drive super speedways outside of Indianapolis. Michigan Speedway was part of the series from 2002 to 2007, AutoClub Speedway from 2002 to 2005 and a second time from 2012 to 2015, Pocono was used by IndyCar between 2014 and 2019. In NASCAR they are still an essential part of the racing calendar. The closed and partially demolished Texas World Speedway , was the original "sister track" to Michigan. The two-mile oval, with its 22-degree banking,

5661-474: The early twentieth century had wood surfaces. Indianapolis Motor Speedway 's track surface used to be made entirely of bricks, and today, 3 feet (0.91 m), or one yard, of original bricks remain exposed at the start-finish line. Each was hand laid over a 2-inch (51 mm) cushion of sand, then leveled and the gaps filled with mortar. Before the work was completed, locals nicknamed the track "The Brickyard". A combined road course , colloquially referred to as

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5772-458: The early years of the Indy Racing League , the series visited several intermediate tracks. The higher-downforce, normally aspirated IRL-type cars proved to be competitive at several of the tracks. The CART series however, mostly stayed away as the faster, more powerful Champ Cars were generally thought to be too fast for this type of circuit. This became evident at the 2001 Firestone Firehawk 600 , when drivers experienced vertigo-like symptoms, and

5883-448: The end of February, NASCAR's Mike Helton indicated hopes of hosting a race at Kansas; a month later, NASCAR president Bill France Jr. "virtually guaranteed" a race weekend, planning for a race weekend in 2001. Two months later, the Indy Racing League (IRL) announced future races at the track for 2001. By July, although the project experienced further delays due to weather, the track started to sell tickets, with demand being so high that

5994-619: The end of the month and ISC was expected to own most of the property needed, the actual construction was still uncertain. A summary judgement was later granted at the end of October, and in November, the case was dismissed. In January 1999, $ 95.6 million worth of bonds were sold, officially resuming the project. However, an opening date for the track was not stated by Lesa France Kennedy , the executive vice president of ISC. Although construction had started several months earlier in September,

6105-422: The fastest official race lap records at Kansas Speedway are listed as: Oval track racing#Intermediate Major forms of oval track racing include stock car racing , open-wheel racing , sprint car racing , modified car racing , midget car racing and dirt track motorcycles . Oval track racing is the predominant form of auto racing in the United States. According to the 2013 National Speedway Directory,

6216-592: The final casino plan was announced, calling for around 2,300 slot machines, around 1,050 employees, and a 300-room hotel expansion on a 268,000 square foot plot of land. Groundbreaking on the Hollywood Casino commenced on April 30, 2010. As a result of France Kennedy's promise of a second Cup Series race weekend if the casino was built, the future of the IndyCar Series at the track was left uncertain due to scheduling conflicts. In July, ISC petitioned for

6327-584: The first community in Johnson County—and perhaps the first in the state—to experience an attack by Confederate forces. The first post office in Gardner was established in 1858. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 10.21 square miles (26.44 km ), of which 10.16 square miles (26.31 km ) is land and 0.05 square miles (0.13 km ) is water. The most notable body of water in Gardner

6438-400: The front of the pack, the results could block the track in a short amount of time. This leaves drivers at the back of the pack with little time to react and little room to maneuver. The results are often catastrophic as numerous cars may be destroyed in a single accident. This type of accident is often called " The Big One ". Oval track racing requires different tactics than road racing. While

6549-648: The government was considering using the power of eminent domain , with local Kansas law declaring that condemnation could be used if the area is within a "major tourism district". On July 10, the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously decided with ISC and Unified, basing their opinion with the Fifth Amendment in their ruling. Residents then decided to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States on July 20. Nine days later, another lawsuit

6660-554: The group filed a lawsuit in the Kansas Supreme Court against the state-owned Kansas Lottery claiming that the project would "create an illegal tax"; however, the law itself was viewed itself as "extremely murky" by Kansas City Star writer Rick Alm on whether the law's wording was retroactive. The next month, Las Vegas Sands opted to submit their proposal despite Kansas Lottery refusing to hear it. In May, Kansas Lottery approved five proposals in Wyandotte County. On June 27,

6771-552: The history of NASCAR and IndyCar, this oval size was not very common. Until 1990, there were only five examples. Two of these, the Marchbanks Speedway (1.4 miles) and the Trenton Speedway (1.5 miles), were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s, and only three—Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway—have survived to this day. All other ovals of this type were built after 1994. During

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6882-421: The land from ISC, 146 homeowners along with some property managers were affected by the purchase. As a result, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City made incentive offers to get homeowners to move out of the area. In April, a lawsuit was filed by 11 homeowners to stop ISC and Unified from buying any property, stating that the defendants did not have a final plan to start buying property. By July,

6993-419: The median household income was $ 78,193 (with a margin of error of +/- $ 4,899) and the median family income was $ 86,859 (+/- $ 4,392). Males had a median income of $ 49,402 (+/- $ 4,503) versus $ 30,995 (+/- $ 3,086) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $ 39,662 (+/- $ 2,267). Approximately, 4.3% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 9.6% of those under

7104-500: The median income for a household in the city was $ 50,807, and the median income for a family was $ 54,554. Males had a median income of $ 37,438 versus $ 27,553 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 20,434. About 5.3% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over. BNSF Railway built a refueling plant and office in Edgerton which

7215-468: The new $ 521 million proposal to come in December. Despite being the only proposal left, the Kansas Lottery stated that they would not become a " rubber stamp " for the proposal despite renewed promises of a second NASCAR Cup Series race weekend. On December 1, the Kansas Lottery approved the proposal without the hotel at a budget of $ 386 million, with a planned opening date in early 2012. The project

7326-479: The next month, the track considered getting a third race weekend for 2001. Later companion races were announced for IRL were announced on August 1 and September 29, respectively. In September, the track starting paving. Two months later, the track's opening date was moved back to June 2, 2001, with a new race weekend for ARCA and the NASCAR Winston West Series being announced. By February 2001,

7437-477: The oldest oval race track, the Milwaukee Mile was originally a race track for horse racing . In NASCAR, 1-mile oval tracks are among the intermediate tracks. IndyCar rates these tracks as short ovals, since IndyCar does not usually run on ovals shorter than 3/4-mile. The 1-mile ovals have lost a great deal of their former importance for oval racing. Most of the racetracks abandoned by NASCAR or IndyCar in

7548-607: The only long, flat tracks on the schedule. Auto Club Speedway, which joined Indianapolis, Michigan and Pocono as the one of four superspeedways used in the Verizon IndyCar Series , was the site of Gil de Ferran 's qualifying lap of 241.428 mph (388.541 km/h) in the CART FedEx Championship Series in 2000 , the fastest qualifying lap recorded at an official race meeting. Due to the low number of spectators or safety concerns by

7659-448: The oval race tracks. As a result, the racetracks have lengths of different accuracy. The following table shows the values that NASCAR, IndyCar and CART/CCWS used to determine the lap speeds and track records. A typical oval track consists of two parallel straights, connected by two 180° turns. Although most ovals generally have only two radii curves, they are usually advertised and labeled as four 90° turns. While many oval tracks conform to

7770-499: The partnership hoping to reapply in the near future when the economy rose. In January, the partnership announced plans to resubmit their proposal by April 1. On March 31, the decision was confirmed, with the partnership now having to go against two other proposals: one from Penn Entertainment and one from Golden Heartland. By May, the Kansas Speedway partnership and Penn Entertainment's proposals managed to advance further into

7881-558: The planning stages. Due to the Great Recession and its effects, both proposals, which initially had budgets of over $ 600 million, were cut to around $ 350 million for both proposals. In September, the two proposals essentially merged into one when Penn Entertainment bought out the Cordish Corporation. As a result of the buyout, the Hard Rock branding was scrapped in favor of a Hollywood-themed casino, with an approval decision for

7992-439: The population. There were 6,644 households, of which 49.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 25.7% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

8103-450: The population. 26.8% were of German , 18.2% American , 11.5% Irish and 5.6% English ancestry according to Census 2000 . There were 3,307 households, out of which 47.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. 19.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who

8214-436: The project was delayed to the point where chances of an opening date in 2000 were "very small" according to ISC's Grant Lynch. In addition, in sentiments shared by Las Vegas Motor Speedway 's Jeff Motley and Texas Motor Speedway 's Eddie Gossage , the probability of getting a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race weekend for Kansas International Speedway became increasingly smaller with new dates given out in 1997 and 1998. However, by

8325-423: The project's leaders were considering to expand their initial capacity and amount of suites. Within the next two months, the track considered adding Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) races and selling naming rights in wake of Charlotte Motor Speedway doing the same earlier in the year. Officials later stated hope of opening the track for private testing in the fall of 2000. Despite the delays, construction

8436-861: The race track construction boom of the late 1990s, these tracks began to be labeled with the rather derogatory term "cookie cutter" tracks, as their differences were perceived to be minimal. In 1992, Charlotte became the first intermediate track to install lights and allow for night racing. It is now commonplace for these types of tracks to host night races. Intermediate tracks usually have moderate to steep banking. Almost all modern race tracks that are still used in NASCAR and IndyCar today are of this type. Since their size allows them to compromise high speeds with sightlines, especially tri- and quad-ovals of 1.5-mile length have become commonplace in major racing series that use oval tracks. While intermediate speedways were designed primarily with stock cars in mind, they were also believed to be suited to host Indy cars as well. In

8547-529: The race was cancelled for safety reasons. As of 2020, the IndyCar Series has only one race remaining at a high-banked intermediate track ( Texas ). These tracks began to be removed from the Indy car schedule in the late-2000s and early-2010s due to low crowds and serious crashes, including the fatal accident involving Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas in 2011. Originally a superspeedway was an oval race track with

8658-447: The same front straightaway. The now defunct Ascot Speedway featured 1/2 mile and 1/4 mile dirt oval tracks, and Irwindale Speedway features 1/2 mile and 1/3 mile concentric paved oval tracks. Pocono Raceway once had a 3/4 mile oval which connected to the main stretch, and circled around the garage area. In 1991, Charlotte Motor Speedway connected the quad oval start-finish straight to the pit lane with two 180 degree turns, resulting in

8769-403: The same start/finish line, and same pit area, but a mid-course diversion to a winding road circuit in the infield (and/or outfield). At some point, the circuit leads back to the main oval, and completes the rest of the lap. On some of the faster ovals, a chicane is present on long back-straights, to keep speeds down, and create additional braking/passing zones. Some more complex facilities feature

8880-508: The seven elementary schools (Edgerton Elementary is the only school in the district not located in Gardner). These include Gardner Elementary, Sunflower Elementary, Madison Elementary, Nike Elementary, Grand Star Elementary, and Moonlight Elementary. The district also has three middle schools, Wheatridge, Trail Ridge, and Pioneer Ridge, and one high school (Gardner-Edgerton High School) all located in Gardner. The Johnson County Library maintains

8991-508: The similar construction boom of the baseball/football cookie-cutter stadiums of the 1960s and 1970s, and the subsequent sport-specific stadium construction boom that began in the 1990s. Most of the oval tracks are located in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. However, there are also many oval tracks elsewhere too, as listed below. Gardner, Kansas Gardner is a city in Johnson County , Kansas , United States. As of

9102-612: The sport's ruling body to reduce the high speeds accommodated by their steep banking since 1988. Other superspeedways used by NASCAR include the Michigan International Speedway (2.0 miles), Auto Club Speedway (known as California Speedway prior to February 2008) (2.0 miles), and Pocono Raceway (2.5 miles). Auto Club Speedway and Michigan are often considered intermediate tracks by NASCAR due to their similarities with 1.5-mile tracks, while Pocono and Indianapolis are sometimes classified separately, as they are

9213-549: The total number of oval tracks, drag strips and road courses in the United States is 1,262, with 901 of those being oval tracks and 683 of those being dirt tracks. Among the most famous oval tracks in North America are the Indianapolis Motor Speedway , Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway . Pack racing is a phenomenon found on fast, high-banked superspeedways. It occurs when

9324-523: The track also exists an infield road course that is used with the oval to make a " roval ". As part of the construction boom of oval tracks in the 1990s, the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) sought to build a track in the Midwest. In 1997, ISC announced plans to build a track in the Kansas City metropolitan area , eventually building it in Wyandotte County, Kansas . Although the track

9435-538: The track decreased from a capacity of 64,000 seats to 48,000 in 2019. The track holds two annual races per year: the fall Hollywood Casino 400 and the spring AdventHealth 400 . The former was first run in the track's inaugural season in 2001. The latter race weekend was added to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in June 2011. Along with its Cup Series races, lower-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series races have also been held. On May 28, 1999,

9546-406: The track had a capacity of 82,000, which occurred in the mid-2000s. The Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway was approved in 2009 after an initial failed attempt by the track and the Cordish Corporation the previous year. The casino is a joint venture by the track and Penn Entertainment , who bought out Cordish. The casino overlooks the track's second turn, features a 268,000 square foot complex, and

9657-409: The track has 17 degrees of banking at the track's bottom lane, and 20 degrees of banking at the track's top lane in the turns. The frontstretch has 10 degrees of banking, and the backstretch has 5 degrees of banking. Different measurements of length have been used; IndyCar has utilized a length of 1.52 miles (2.45 km) for its races. Within the track's infield, there is an infield road course that

9768-534: The track held the Kanrocksas Music Festival, a rock music festival. The event was first announced on April 26, 2011, and was held in August; the inaugural festival featured acts such as Eminem , The Flaming Lips , Kid Cudi , Primus , and others. In 2013, the event was scheduled to be held in June; however, the event was cancelled in May after a lack of tickets were sold. As of September 2024,

9879-537: The track in their respective areas, with the project drawing relatively positive public support. By mid-August, Wyandotte County officials entered negotiations with ISC, with local county agencies giving "heavy support" for the project. At the end of negotiations in October, the plot of land near I-70 and I-435 was chosen, with initial plans stating to sit 75,000 with room to expand to 150,000. The track's budget stated amounted to almost $ 200 million. The track's construction

9990-500: The track to get a second Cup Series race weekend, and by August 7, the Kansas City Star reported that the track would get a second race weekend. On August 10, NASCAR officially confirmed the second NASCAR race weekend, along with the track announcing the addition of lights for night racing. The next month, IndyCar announced their departure from the track. The casino's topping out ceremony was performed on March 23, 2011, with

10101-419: The track was able to hold its first Winston Cup Series race, with Jeff Gordon winning the inaugural event. The next year, Lynch stepped down from his position, giving control of the track to vice president Jeff Boerger. The track later expanded to include over 80,000 grandstand seats in November. Two years later, the track expanded to 83,000 seats; although 150,000 seats were expected, an uncertain economy led to

10212-442: The track was projected by the local city sports council to generate $ 2.28 billion to the local economy by 2003. The track opened to the public as scheduled on June 2, 2001, with ARCA driver Jason Jarrett winning the first race at the track. The first ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Indy Racing League doubleheader followed a month later, with Ricky Hendrick and Eddie Cheever winning their respective races. In September,

10323-586: The track's leaders taking a conservative approach on expansion. Starting in 2004, proposals by the Kickapoo tribe and the Sac and Fox Nation to build a state-regulated casino at a budget of $ 210 million west of the track were made to the Kansas Legislature . The proposal to allow state-run casinos faced heavy opposition from several businessmen and lobbying groups, stating that the casino's revenue under

10434-489: The track's president. The track is served by the concurrent Interstate 70 , U.S. Route 24 , and U.S. Route 40 , along with Interstate 435 . As of 2019, the track has a stated capacity of 48,000. The track is adjacent to the Hollywood Casino , which opened in 2012 and is a joint venture by Penn Entertainment and the track, along with a retail outlet complex that was built during the track's construction. Within

10545-407: The traditional symmetrical design, asymmetrical tracks are not uncommon. Additional prominent examples: The tri-oval is the common shape of the ovals from the construction booms of the 1960s and 1990s. The use of the tri-oval shape for automobile racing was conceived by Bill France, Sr. during the planning for Daytona. The triangular layout allowed fans in the grandstands an angular perspective of

10656-414: The turns and are considered low banked, superspeedways like Talladega have up to 33° of tilt in curves, Daytona has up to 32°, both are considered high banked. Atlanta is the intermediate track with the highest banking, 28°. Winchester has the highest banking of any active oval track with 37° Track surfaces can be dirt , concrete, asphalt, or a combination of concrete and asphalt. Some ovals in

10767-486: The vehicles racing are cornering at their limit of aerodynamic drag , but within their limit of traction . This allows drivers to race around the track constantly at wide open throttle . Since the vehicles are within their limit of traction, drafting through corners will not hinder a vehicle's performance. As cars running together are faster than cars running individually, all cars in the field will draft each other simultaneously in one large pack. In stock car racing this

10878-512: Was 1,996.8 per square mile (771.0/km ). There were 8,294 housing units at an average density of 711.2 per square mile (274.6/km ). The racial makeup was 79.22% (18,449) white or European American (76.52% non-Hispanic white ), 3.89% (907) black or African-American , 0.56% (130) Native American or Alaska Native , 1.78% (415) Asian , 0.14% (32) Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian , 3.58% (834) from other races , and 10.82% (2,520) from two or more races . Hispanic or Latino of any race

10989-428: Was 10.21% (2,378) of the population. Of the 8,005 households, 47.7% had children under the age of 18; 56.1% were married couples living together; 21.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. 20.4% of households consisted of individuals and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.0 and the average family size was 3.3. The percent of those with

11100-433: Was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.31. The median age in the city was 30 years. 33.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 37.7% were from 25 to 44; 17.1% were from 45 to 64; and 5.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 9,396 people, 3,307 households, and 2,460 families living in

11211-437: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.23. In the city, the population was spread out, with 33.1% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 38.4% from 25 to 44, 13.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males. As of 2000

11322-795: Was a suitable area that the company was looking at. In addition, the project was supported by the Kansas City Area Development Council. An initial bid by the city of Gardner, Kansas , was made in February 1997; however, the plan met local opposition and the city eventually backtracked after city officials witnessed the 1997 Daytona 500 , realizing that building it in Gardner would be too close to already existing residential development along with heavy traffic congestion. By April, ISC narrowed down their selected sites to 16, which included plots in Platte County, Missouri and Wyandotte County, Kansas . The next month, ISC

11433-781: Was built as a facility for the automotive industry to conduct research and development. Daytona International Speedway was built as a replacement for the Daytona Beach Road Course , which combined the town's main street and its famous beach. Daytona hosts the Daytona 500 , NASCAR's most prestigious race, while the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is home to the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 . The longest superspeedway in North America

11544-790: Was considering using a plot of land near Interstate 29 near the Kansas City International Airport . By July, ISC announced that the Kansas City area was their "No. 1" choice to build the track, asking the area to pay for the track. Three locations were then narrowed down: one in Missouri with the previously mentioned land near Interstate 29, and two locations in Kansas; one plot near Interstate 70 and Interstate 435 , and one plot near 110th Street and Parallel Parkway. Officials from both Kansas and Missouri both went to ISC's headquarters to try and convince ISC to build

11655-421: Was filed by 13 property owners over insufficient relocation and moving packages. As a result of the lawsuit, the purchase of $ 95 million of revenue bonds was delayed until the lawsuit was resolved, leading to a potential delay in opening. In response, ISC and Unified made efforts to buy up property for a combined total of around $ 13 million, with the issue considered settled. However, in September, Donna L. Laughery,

11766-533: Was given the final go-ahead in February 2010, when the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission signed off licensing background checks. Boreger stepped down from track leadership to run Kansas Entertainment and the casino, promoting the track's vice president of marketing and sales, Patrick Warren, to run the track in March 2010. Warren announced a desire to rebound from effects from the Great Recession. On April 28,

11877-405: Was scheduled to open in 2000, the track faced multiple lawsuits by homeowners who lived in the area, pushing its construction back by months and delaying its opening to 2001. Since 2001, the track has remained in some form within the NASCAR calendar. The speedway in its current form is measured at 1.5 miles (2.4 km), with the track having a progressive banking system in the turns. Subsequently,

11988-522: Was scheduled to start in the spring of 1998 and was scheduled to be finished sometime in 2000. Guarantee of a NASCAR Winston Cup race weekend was not given, with the NASCAR Winston Cup Series schedule experiencing growth in the 1990s; a "radical plan" was predicted to be needed in order to get a Winston Cup race weekend. When final negotiations were completed, the project cost later increased to over $ 252 million, with ISC being offered

12099-539: Was the site of Mario Andretti's closed-course record of 214.158 mph (344.654 km/h) which stood for 12 years. No major professional series have raced at TWS since the 1990s. The 2.5 mile Ontario Motor Speedway was known as the "Indianapolis of the West", but was bought by the Chevron Land Company in 1980 and partitioned for development. NASCAR and IndyCar use different measuring systems to measure

12210-521: Was used only twice (both in 1987) and has not been used for major motor racing since hosting Round 9 of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship . There have been two distinct oval race track construction "booms" in the United States. The first took place in the 1960s, and the second took place in the mid-to-late 1990s. The majority of tracks from the 1960s boom and the 1990s boom have survived, but some tracks failed to achieve long-term financial success. Incidentally, these two booms loosely coincided with

12321-410: Was viewed with "high hopes" by ISC, with the final budget for the track being touted as $ 287 million in November 1999. In May, officials stated hopes of an official date for its NASCAR Winston Cup Series race weekend within the month; this was later confirmed on May 8, when both IRL and NASCAR's race weekend dates were revealed, with the race weekends being held on July 8 and September 29–30, respectively;

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