Fast Track Facts: Kentucky Speedway

credit: NASCAR Media

Kentucky Speedway, located in Sparta, Kentucky – about halfway between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio – has been hosting Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races since 2011. Here are some facts of interest as the Cup stars head to the track for the only time this season.

• Construction began on the 1.5-mile track in July 1998, and Kentucky Speedway opened with an ARCA Racing Series event in June 2000. The 1.5-mile tri-oval has 17-degree banking in Turns 1 and 2 and 14-degree banking in Turns 3 and 4; it has a seating capacity of 87,000.
• Originally owned by Jerry Carroll and four other investors, the track is currently owned and operated by Carroll and Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which also owns Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway among others.
• While 2011 marked the first visit of the Sprint Cup (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup) Series to Kentucky, the track had already hosted NASCAR’s Nationwide (now Xfinity) and Camping World Truck Series as well as the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Indy Lights Series.
• Brad Keselowski has the most Cup Series wins at Kentucky (three), and also holds the NASCAR track qualifying record (188.791 mph in June 2014). In six previous Cup Series races at the track, qualifying has been rained out three times. The overall track lap record belongs to former IndyCar driver Sarah Fisher, who ran a lap of 221.390 mph in 2002.
• Find out more about the track at www.kentuckyspeedway.com.