| | | | | | | | | | Texas Motor Speedway | The Great American Speedway |
| | Fort Worth, TX Located in Fort Worth, Texas, the Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile superspeedway, with 24-degree banking in the turns.
Once considered the fastest non-restrictor plate track on the NASCAR circuit, Texas Motor Speedway has had qualifying speeds surpassing 192 mph and corner entry speeds at more than 200 mph. But as the racing surfaces wear, qualifying speeds at Atlanta have become consistently faster than Texas.
In 2006, Brian Vickers posted a speed of 196.235 at Texas Motor Speedway, and he hold the qualifying record.
The track is host to two NEXTEL Cup races – the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 and the Dickies 500.
Texas Motor Speedway also hosts two Busch Series races, as well as the Indy Racing League race.
Construction on Texas Motor Speedway began in 1995, and on April 5, 1997, Mark Martin won the first NASCAR event, a Busch Series race. The first Cup Series race was won by Jeff Burton the next day.
Turn 4 was reshaped in 1998 to help the transition from the turns to the front straightaway. The original design of Texas Motor Speedway included a dual banking system, with 24 degrees of banking for stock cars, and 8 degrees for open-wheel cars. A later track renovation would get rid of the dual banking and give the track its current configuration.
Texas Motor Speedway got an additional fall NEXTEL Cup date – in addition to its April race – in 2005.
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