Precursor In total, there were three tracks under the Concord Speedway name, this facility being the third. The first track to use the Concord Speedway moniker was built in the 1950s and was built off of Poplar Tent Rd. – located at the end of Old Speedway Dr. NW, this track held seven
NASCAR Grand National (now known as the NASCAR Cup Series) events between 1956 and 1959. The track was left abandoned after the closure. The second track was also built off of Poplar Tent Rd. (located near Eva Drive & Channing Circle) – also in the 1950s. This track was a -mile dirt oval, and also was named Harris Speedway, Concord International Speedway & New Concord Speedway throughout its history.
NASCAR held five Grand National races between 1962 and 1964. This track ran throughout the 1970s, it hosted the debut season of the National Dirt Racing Association – which was won by
Rodney Combs on May 26, 1979. The NDRA race was also the final race at the Eva Dr. facility. Both properties of the first two tracks are now housing developments. However, it wasn't the first track to be built in Concord or
Cabarrus County. The first track in Concord was called the Concord Fairgrounds, and was located off of Highway 29 at the former Cabarrus District Fairgrounds. This half mile dirt oval facility was originally built for horse racing, and was first used for auto racing in 1925. The track ran until 1934 & also hosted 2
AAA Contest Board Sprint Car races (1931 & 1934). Other notable tracks in the county include famed
Charlotte Motor Speedway complex, the Midland Dustbowl - which held racing from 1948 to the 1950s, Twin City Speedway (in Kannapolis) - which held stock car racing on a 1/4 mile dirt oval up to 1964 and Two Flags Speedway (off of Gold Hill Rd.) - which hosted Micro Sprints & Go-Kart racing from 1976 to 1997.
Results Fairgrounds (1924–1932) AAA Sprint Cars • 1932 -
Johnny Sawyer • 1934 -
Floyd Davis Poplar Tent Road location (1949–1959) NASCAR Grand National – NASCAR held 7 Grand National races on the original dirt half mile located on Old Speedway Drive (near Poplar Tent Road) in Concord. • 1956 -
Speedy Thompson • 1957 (race 2) -
Marvin Panch • 1957 (race 5) -
Jack Smith • 1957 (race 51) -
Fireball Roberts • 1958 -
Lee Petty • 1959 (race 5) -
Curtis Turner • 1959 (race 44) -
Jack Smith NASCAR Convertible Series – NASCAR held one
Convertible Division race on the original dirt half mile. The first few years, the track featured no walls on the outside corners, those were added in by 1984 or 1985.
Pavement era Furr paved the track in August 1986, the track was reconfigured in 1991, adding a true dog-leg to the backstretch. The track now is a half-mile with three unique turns, all with unique banking. The shape of the new layout was similar to
Pocono Raceway, and
Sanair Super Speedway. Pit road entrance is located in the tri-oval prior to turn three, grandstand seating held over 12,000 fans. The track started the Big 10 Series for Super Late Models in 1987, Jack Sprague won the first series title. The series became very popular with the fans, as it was highly competitive. David Laton purchased the track following the 1996 season. The Big 10 Series didn't return in 1997 for the first season under new ownership & Late Model Stock Cars became the main weekly championship of the half-mile. Laton made several capital improvements to the facility including a repave (done in 1999), replaced barriers & fencing, a Hubbell lighting system & several fan amenities. Grandstand seating was also downsized, as most of the Alan Kulwicki Grandstand became a dirt berm, with only the portion near the turn 1 gate staying intact - being replaced with metal bleachers. The track brought back the Super Late Models for the Big 10 Series in 2003, the championship lasted until 2005.
Freddie Query is the track's all-time leader in wins and claimed the Big 10 series championship in 2004 and 2005. Late Model Stock Cars returned as the main track championship, until 2009 when the track added Pro Late Models to the weekly card. One of the track's more popular events, the North South Shootout was started in 2003 at the half-mile tri-oval. The event featured a 125-lap race for Tour-type Modifieds, along with several other marquee divisions such as
Supermodifieds & the
ARCA/CRA Super Series. The event stayed at Concord until 2010, it was originally going to move to Myrtle Beach Speedway for 2011 - however
Caraway Speedway hosted the annual event following the death of original race promoter Charles Kepley.
Half Mile uncertainty & revival The track stopped weekly racing on the half-mile tri-oval in 2012, only the quarter-mile oval has hosted weekly racing since. The quarter-mile weekly program features
INEX Legends, INEX Bandoleros, along with Davis Mini Cups, go-karts, and quarter midgets on select nights. The quarter-mile traditionally featured racing from March to May, and August to early October – with a 2-month break in June and July. Previously, this layout also featured USAC Speed2 Eastern Midgets during the summer months (2008–2010). In 2015, racing returned to the half-mile tri-oval after not hosting any touring series for the past 2 years, the opening event featured the PASS South Super Late Models and
Koma Unwind Modified Madness Series running on Memorial Day weekend. That season also saw the return of the North-South Shootout event in November. Alongside the John Blewett III Memorial 125 for the Tour-type Modifieds, other touring series such as the PASS South Super Late Models were a part of the event. CARS Tour also returned that year – now in the dual series format for Super Late Models & Late Model Stock Cars. CARS Tour ran for 3 seasons until the end of 2017. On May 5, 2018, the track hosted the Minimizer Bandit Big Rig Series. Defending series champion Ricky Rude got the lead on lap #6 & won the A-main feature.
Closure On January 9, 2019, North-South Shootout promoter Darren Hacket announced that the event would move away from the facility to
Hickory Motor Speedway due to the uncertain future of the Concord Speedway complex. The track would continue to host the INEX Legend Cars & INEX Bandoleros on the quarter-mile track. On July 2, 2019, it was announced that the track would be sold, and that leaders in each of the weekly series point standings would be awarded championship trophies for the year. The buyer was later reported to be
Copart. ==Notable competitors==