You can tell a lot about the character of Bristol Motor Speedway from the nicknames assigned to the venue by racing fans. There are four in wide circulation: "The Last Great Colosseum" and "The Bullring" for the track's shape; "The World's Fastest Half-Mile" for its speed (cars complete laps in about 15 seconds); and "Thunder Valley" for its noise. The track is steeply banked and ringed with stadium-style seating. With a capacity of 162,000, it is the third-largest sports venue in the United States and the seventh-largest in the world.

Bristol Motor Speedway History

Bristol Motor Speedway, located in the northeast corner of Tennessee, opened in 1961. It was built by Carl Moore, Larry Carrier, and R.G. Pope on the site of a former dairy farm. They drew their inspiration from a trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway, but the $600,000 Bristol track was a more intimate (and noisier) venue, and in 1969 the track was reconfigured with its signature steep banks. In 1992, BMS replaced its asphalt surface with a concrete surface that is now its other hallmark. It is something of a celebrity, having served as the basis for the fictional Motor Speedway of the South in the Disney/Pixar film Cars.

The speedway is home to races in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and the NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series. In the Cup Series, racing great Richard Petty holds the track record for most Top 10 finishes (with 37) and most starts (with 60). Darrell Waltrip leads with 12 all-time wins. The all-time winningest car owner at BMS is the legendary Junior Johnson, with 21 victories. Over the course of a week in 2010, Kyle Busch made history by winning three NASCAR national series races in a single race meeting: the Truck Series race on a Wednesday, then the Nationwide Series race, and the Spring Cup Series race.