Speedway weekends at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway is the reason the world knows Concord, and twice a year it becomes the largest temporary city in the Carolinas: 100,000-plus in the stands, tens of thousands camping in the infield and the lots, and a week of events around each race. This guide is for the first-timer and the newcomer: what the two race weekends are, what happens each day, how to get in and out, and what to do at the track the other 50 weeks. Facts about the speedway come from its listing and site; the businesses around it link to the directory.

The two weekends

Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts NASCAR events including the Bank of America 400 each October, with tickets, camping, event information and experiences for every fan, per its listing. The Coca-Cola 600 over Memorial Day weekend in May is the sport’s longest race and the track’s signature, run at night under the lights after a full day of pre-race ceremony; the All-Star Race and the Xfinity and Truck races fill the surrounding days. The fall weekend runs on the ROVAL, the road course that combines the oval with an infield circuit, and it’s a playoff race, which makes it the more consequential of the two. Our read: the 600 for the spectacle, the ROVAL for the racing.

What happens each day

Race week starts the weekend before with fan fest, the haulers’ parade through Uptown and the driver appearances. Thursday and Friday are practice and qualifying, cheap tickets and the best access to the garage. Saturday is the support race. Sunday is the race, with the gates opening hours before, the pre-race concert and, for the 600, a military tribute that stops the track. The infield is its own town: campers who’ve held the same spot for decades, a fan zone, and a view of the cars from inside the corners. Tickets range from general admission in the backstretch to suites; the speedway’s site sells them and the secondary market fills the gaps.

The camping

The camping is the point for a lot of people: reserved infield and trackside spots that sell out a year ahead, and unreserved lots across the highway that fill by Thursday. The speedway runs the reservations. For the family that would rather sleep in a bed, the hotels along Concord Parkway and at Concord Mills are the closest and book out; the where to stay guide covers the fallbacks, and All About Storage in Concord stores the RV the rest of the year.

The traffic

Race day traffic on Highway 29, Bruton Smith Boulevard and I-85 at Exit 49 is the worst the metro produces, and the rules are: arrive by mid-morning for a night race, park where the speedway tells you, and plan on two hours to leave. Charlotte Charter Bus and Duke Limo run groups in from Uptown and the airport, and a bus with a drop-off lane beats every car. Rideshare surges to absurdity after the checkered flag; the walk to a pickup point a mile away is faster.

Where to eat in Concord

The Smoke Pit, barbecue smoked up to 18 hours, is the race-week meal. Downtown Concord’s Union Street has Tutti’s Italian Market, The Depot Deli, The Sweet Life, Cellar Door Wine Shop and Iron Oak Cigar Lounge for after. The Market Bar and Local Bottle Shop pour the beer. Kannapolis, ten minutes north, adds Grounds & Vine and Two Scoops. The Concord page and the Kannapolis page have the rest, and both fill on race weekend; reserve.

The other 50 weeks

The speedway runs track tours year-round, a drive-through holiday light show from late November to New Year’s, the Christmas-lights version of the infield, driving experiences where you ride or drive a stock car, and a calendar of car shows, the auto fair and the dirt-track and dragway events at zMAX and the Dirt Track across the road. Trackhouse Motorplex in Mooresville is the karting version for the kid who wants to drive. The race shops of the NASCAR teams cluster in Mooresville and Concord, and most open their lobbies to visitors on weekdays; Richard’s Coffee Shop in Mooresville is where the retired crew members drink coffee, and the stories are free.

The economics of a race weekend

A race weekend is the ring towns’ biggest economic event of the year, and the businesses in the directory feel it: the hotels sell out, the restaurants above turn tables all day, the charter buses run shuttles, the dry cleaners and the car washes and the grocery stores in Concord do a month’s business in four days. If you live within five miles of the track, the advice from residents is to either go or leave town; the middle path, staying home and driving anywhere, is the worst of it.

The etiquette

Ear protection for everyone and especially children; the 600 is loud enough to hurt. Coolers are allowed in the stands within the speedway’s size limits, which is unusual for a stadium and beloved. Sunscreen for a May afternoon and a jacket for a May night, because both happen. Clear bags speed the gate. And the fan next to you has been coming since 1965 and will tell you which corner to watch; listen.

The speedway year

May for the 600 and the All-Star Race, October for the ROVAL, December for the lights, and the tours and driving experiences any week you have a visitor who wants to say they were at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The sports calendar puts the races in the year, and the annual calendar has the rest. Been going for decades and know a trick we’ve missed? Tell us.