Size of race tracks

To rank race tracks by size with any semblance of accuracy, you need a consistent method of measurement. Enter Will White and his Auto Racing Records site. Will used satellite images and sophisticated on-line measuring software to apply a universal standard to measure over a thousand tracks. Will decided that what he thought was the fairest way was to measure the very outside of the track, the very inside of the track and then average the two. He then rounded his findings to five thousands of a mile.

autoracingrecords.com THIS IS THE SITE....

some interesting findings.. Here are some tracks that everyone calls 5/8 of a mile

Oswego speedway- .510 West Virginia Motor Speedway- .545

I’m sure there are very few tracks that are the exact size they’re advertised as being — whether it’s 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, or whatever. It’s like with lumber. There’s the nominal size it’s listed as — 2x4, 2x6, etc — and then there’s the actual dimensions they really are. I can think of numerous examples, specifically my home region tracks I’ve attended hundreds of times, in which I know for a fact aren’t the length they’re advertised as. My home track of Florence is one of them. It’s always been called a 1/2-mile, but it’s not. Thanks for the link. Should be interesting to look up some tracks.

Just for curiosity sake, I took telemetry I have of several race tracks of cars running the low grooves around the track in racing conditions and found his distance to be pretty close to what the cars travel in feet.

Example magnolia speedway (running low groove - this includes letting car sweep out on straights): Data shows car travels 1660 ft = .314 miles

His results = Magnolia Motor Speedway .320 mi. dirt oval

I did several of them and his listing is pretty close, but it leans closer to the low groove then the high groove by a considerable amount

He even lists two of the money losers that I ran... Chilton Speedway and Amherst Speedway.

Great link...thanks.

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Originally Posted by billetbirdcage

Just for curiosity sake, I took telemetry I have of several race tracks of cars running the low grooves around the track in racing conditions and found his distance to be pretty close to what the cars travel in feet.

Example magnolia speedway (running low groove - this includes letting car sweep out on straights): Data shows car travels 1660 ft = .314 miles

His results = Magnolia Motor Speedway .320 mi. dirt oval

I did several of them and his listing is pretty close, but it leans closer to the low groove then the high groove by a considerable amount

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NASCAR and other sanctioning bodies measure tracks like 10 feet off the wall. I'd be curious how this guy got his numbers. You can go to Google Earth and measure and get reasonably close. Some of his are a little off compared to some I have measured on Google Earth.

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Originally Posted by NY DIRT

Will decided that what he thought was the fairest way was to measure the very outside of the track, the very inside of the track and then average the two. He then rounded his findings to five thousands of a mile.

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Says he averaged the inside vs the outside

Very interesting site, thanks.

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Originally Posted by MRM

NASCAR and other sanctioning bodies measure tracks like 10 feet off the wall. I'd be curious how this guy got his numbers. You can go to Google Earth and measure and get reasonably close. Some of his are a little off compared to some I have measured on Google Earth.

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Yes, I've used Google Earth for the same thing. If you can find a track, you can measure it. Neat lil tool.