Where To Watch NASCAR This Week:

Friday, May 9

ARCA Race: Tide 150 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM at 8 p.m. ET)

Saturday, May 10

NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS2 at 2 p.m. ET)

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM at 4:30 p.m. ET)

NCTS Race: Heart of Health Care 200 (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 7:30 p.m. ET)

Sunday, May 11

NCS Race: AdventHealth 400 (FS1 & FOX Deportes, MRN, SiriusXM at 3 p.m. ET)

Historical & Significant Events at Kansas Speedway:

·       In 1996, International Speedway Corporation (now NASCAR) began exploring options to build a speedway in the Midwest. Lesa France Kennedy spearheaded the search process. In 1997, Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, were selected as the site for the new speedway at the intersection of interstates 70 and 435.

·       On December 18, 1997, International Speedway Corporation (now NASCAR) announced plans to build a 1.5 mile speedway to seat approximately 75,000.

·       Architecture firm HNTB designed the facility and Turner Construction provided construction management. Construction began on the 1,200 acre, 1.5 mile speedway in May of 1999.

·       Completion was targeted for 2000 but was delayed by weather and lawsuits from nearby landowners. Paving began in September 2000 and the speedway completed in early 2001.

·       Estimated project cost was $250 million. The speedway had a significant impact on the area even before construction was finished. New commercial and entertainment developments sprung up near the speedway, including a movie theater complex, an outdoor retail mall, and hotels.

·       The official opening of Kansas Speedway was in 2001, with the first events being an ARCA Menards Series race and an ARCA Menards Series West race on the same day – June 2.

·       The first NASCAR Cup Series race was on September 30, 2001. The event was won by Hendrick Motorsport’s driver and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet).

·       In 2011, 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.

·       Following the 2012 STP 400, the track underwent a massive renovation project that included repaving the track surface, reconfiguration of the oval, and addition of a new infield road course. NASCAR’s in-house design and construction group utilized state of the art computer modeling to develop track geometry with up to 20 degrees of variable banking. Construction crews removed the existing oval track asphalt pavement and regraded the underlying soil to create the variable banking. In addition to the turns, the frontstretch, backstretch and pit road were reconstructed.

·       The Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway overlooking turn 2 opened February 3, 2012 with 2,000 slot machines, 52 gaming tables and 12 poker tables on a 100,000 square-foot gaming floor. It also features 28,000 square-feet of other amenities including restaurants, clubs and nightlife attractions.

·       The casino is estimated to bring 440,000 tourists per year and create 1,050 full time jobs elevating the state to a first class, year-round tourist destination.

·       The inside of the $411 million Hollywood Casino facility is modeled after the golden age of Hollywood. There are soaring columns with ornate scrollwork, video screens rolling historic clips of Grace Kelly and James Stewart and vintage movie posters of Steve McQueen in “Le Mans” and James Garner in “Grand Prix,” a nod to the motorsports element of the unique partnership.

·       Prior to the fall race in 2015 Kansas Speedway added 1,250 linear feet of SAFER barrier to the backstretch and 525 linear feet to the frontstretch; all outside walls are now protected by SAFER barrier. 1,700 linear feet of barrier was also added to the interior walls at the entry and exit of the corners. In total Kansas Speedway added a total of 3,475 feet or 6 tenths of a mile of SAFER barrier in 2015.

·       Since 2016, the track has been the host of the American Royal World Series of BBQ competition.

·       Kansas Speedway is located in the state of Kansas, 13 miles west of Kansas City, Mo.

·       There have been 38 NASCAR Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway, one event from 2001 – 2010 and two races per year since 2011.