Homestead–Miami Speedway

Homestead–Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, including NASCAR, the IndyCar Series, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series, and the Championship Cup Series.

Homestead–Miami Speedway
Location1 Speedway Boulevard
Homestead, Florida 33035
Time zoneUTC−5 / −4 (DST)
Capacity46,000[1]
OwnerCity of Homestead
OperatorNASCAR
Broke groundAugust 21, 1993
OpenedNovember 5, 1995
Construction cost$70 million
Former namesHomestead Motorsports Complex
Major eventsNASCAR Cup Series
Dixie Vodka 400
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Hooters 250
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Baptist Health 200
Oval
Length1.5 mi (2.4 km)
BankingTurns 18–20° (Progressive)
Straights 3°
Race lap record0:24.462 (Sam Hornish, Jr., Penske Racing, 2006, IndyCar Series)
Road Course
Length2.3 mi (3.7 km)
Turns11
Race lap record1:13.022 (David Donohue, Brumos Porsche, 2008, Daytona Prototype)
Websitewww.homesteadmiamispeedway.com

From 2002 to 2019, Homestead–Miami Speedway had hosted the final race of the season in all three of NASCAR's series as Ford Championship Weekend: the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. The races currently have the names Dixie Vodka 400, 2020Census.gov 300, and Baptist Health 200, respectively.

History
Sunset at Homestead–Miami Speedway in 2006

The speedway was constructed, with the efforts of promoter Ralph Sanchez, as part of a plan to help Homestead rebound after the devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew. Groundbreaking began August 24, 1993, exactly one year after the hurricane.

It opened in November 1995 with a NASCAR Busch Series race, the last race of that season. The Busch Series would continue to hold its season-ending races at Homestead; in 2002 NASCAR's Winston Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series would also hold their season-ending races at Homestead as well. From 2002 to 2019, NASCAR marketed the season-ending Homestead races as Ford Championship Weekend.

In the spring of 1996, the CART series held its first race there.

The track reflects the art deco district of nearby Miami Beach with its liberal use of colors such as aqua, purple and silver. Though the track itself has been considered to be aesthetically pleasing from the outset, initially the racing at Homestead was not considered very good. The track opened as a four-turn, rectangular-oval, based on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's layout, coincidental considering that circuit and Miami Beach were developed by Carl G. Fisher. However, due to its shorter distance, the track was not able to maintain the racing characteristics of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Instead, the sharp, flat turns and aprons made passing difficult and lowered overall speed. The geometry also created unfavorably severe crash angles. In 1996, track management attempted to correct the problems by widening the aprons of the turns by as much as 24 feet (7.3 m). The movie Super Speedway was shot at the speedway before the track was reconfigured to an oval. In the summer of 1997, an $8.2 million reconfiguration project changed the turns from a rectangle to a traditional, continuous turn oval.

In 2003, the track was reconfigured once again. The turns were changed from mostly flat to steep variable banking. In 2005, lights were installed to allow night racing for the first time. The renovations were praised by fans, and the track has produced a number of close finishes, including 2005's last-lap battle between Greg Biffle and Mark Martin.

On March 26, 2006, Indy Racing League driver Paul Dana suffered fatal injuries in the warm-up session before the race when he was involved in a high-speed collision with Ed Carpenter at over 215 mph (346 km/h). Other drivers to suffer fatal injuries at the speedway are John Nemechek in a Craftsman Truck race on March 16, 1997, and Jeff Clinton who died in a Grand Am sports car event at the track in March 2002.

In 2009, Homestead became the home to a total of five season-ending racing series events, with the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 finale for the IRL IndyCar Series as well as the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series moving to October from their traditional early season slots. The Indy Car series would discontinue its Homestead race while the Rolex Series later changed its Homestead race to a date earlier in the season.

Behind the main grandstand is the Homestead RC Raceway for radio controlled cars, it was used to host the 2011 IFMAR Worlds for 1:8 IC Track cars.[2]

Track length of paved oval

The CART measured for the inaugural race in 1996 a length of 1.517 miles (2.441 km).[3] This length was referenced to the old rectangular layout. In 1998 was the track length remeasured to 1.502 miles (2.417 km)[4] This length was also used for timing and scoring till last CART race in 2000.[5] This length was referenced to the flat paperclip-layout. The NASCAR timing and scoring use a length of 1.50 miles (2.41 km).[6] This length was used by IRL between 2001 and 2003, too.[7] Since 2004 the IRL timing and scoring use a remeasured track length of 1.485 miles (2.390 km).[8] This length referenced to the new banked layout. NASCAR still use the 1.5 miles for new banked layout.[9]

Track configurations

All maps use dashed gray lines for the other courses. Solid gray lines represent other pit road options for the shown course.

  • Speedway
  • Road course
  • Modified road course

Racing events

Current races

Former races

Records

IndyCar
Type Distance
(miles / km)		 Date Driver Chassis / Engine Time Average Speed
(mph / km/h)
Qualifying
(1 lap)		 1.5 / 2.390 March 25, 2006 Sam Hornish, Jr. Dallara / Honda 24.462 218.539 / 351.704
Race
(200 laps)		 300.000 / 477.975 October 10, 2009 Dario Franchitti Dallara / Honda 1:28:28.3117 201.4318 / 324.1730

NASCAR
RecordYearDateDriverCar MakeTimeAverage Speed
(mph)
NASCAR Cup Series
Qualifying2014November 14Brad KeselowskiFord29.795181.238
Race (400 miles)2012November 14Jeff GordonChevy2:51:14142.245
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Qualifying2004November 20Casey MearsDodge30.348177.936
Race (300 miles)2001November 10Joe NemechekChevy2:16:10132.191 (before reconfiguration)
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Qualifying2007November 16Jon WoodFord31.180173.188
Race (200 miles)2002November 15Ron HornadayChevy1:30:30133.260 (before reconfiguration)
NASCAR statistics
Most Wins3Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart
Most Top 5s11Kevin Harvick
Most Top 10s17Kevin Harvick
Starts20Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson
Poles3Denny Hamlin
Most Laps Completed5346Kevin Harvick
Most Laps Led615Carl Edwards
Avg. Start*7.8Kasey Kahne
Avg. Finish*6.0Carl Edwards

* from minimum 4 starts. (As of 11/18/12)

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References
  1. "Homestead–Miami Speedway Track News, Records & Links". jayski.com. jayski.com. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  2. "Motorsports Olympics at Homestead–Miami Speedway". www.homesteadmiamispeedway.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. "1996 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  4. "1998 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  5. "2000 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  6. "11/14/1999 race: Pennzoil 400 Presented by Kmart (Cup) – Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  7. "2002 Grand Prix of Miami". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  8. "2004 Toyota Indy 300". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  9. "Buy Tickets – Official Site Of NASCAR". nascar.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.

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