Rockingham Speedway and Entertainment Complex (formerly known as North Carolina Speedway from 1998 to 2007 and North Carolina Motor Speedway from 1965 to 1997) is a D-shaped oval track in Rockingham, North Carolina, United States. The track has held a variety of events since its opening in 1965, including NASCAR. It has a 32,000-seat capacity as of 2012. Rockingham Speedway is owned by the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA).
Rockingham Speedway opened in 1965 under the control of attorney Elsie Webb. Initially opening as a flat oval, in 1969, the track's dimensions were changed to make the bankings steeper and the track slightly longer. After Webb's death in 1972, NASCAR team owner L. G. DeWitt took over control of the facility. Renovations on the speedway remained slow for decades. Despite a push to make renovations and seating additions after Roger Penske bought the facility in 1997, due to a lack of amenities, poor attendance, and NASCAR's expansion towards bigger markets, NASCAR left the facility in 2004 in the wake of the Ferko lawsuit. With the exception of a brief period of racing under the ownership of Andy Hillenburg, the facility was left desolate for most of the 2010s. In 2018, a group of investors led by Dan Lovenheim bought and renovated the facility into a multi-use complex, with NASCAR returning in 2025 under Lovenheim's leadership.
Description
Configuration Rockingham Speedway in its current form is measured at , with 22° of banking in the track's first two turns, 25° of banking in the track's last two turns, and 8° of banking on the track's straights. A road course layout consisting of an infield road course combined with parts of the oval was added to the facility in 1977.
Amenities Rockingham Speedway is located in Rockingham, North Carolina, and is served by U.S. Route 1 and North Carolina Highway 177. As of 2012, the track has a capacity of 32,000 according to ESPN. At its peak, the track had a capacity of 60,122 according to The News & Observer. Alongside the main oval, a replica of the Martinsville Speedway named "Little Rock" was constructed in 2008 outside of the oval track's confines.
Track history
Planning and construction On April 25, 1964, The Charlotte Observer reported that construction began on a $250,000 racetrack led by Darlington Raceway founder Harold Brasington and businessman W. R. "Bill" Land on a plot of land near an intersection of U.S. Route 1 and North Carolina Highway 177. Initial plans for the facility included a paved oval, a dirt oval, and a drag strip. News on updates largely remained slow, with the construction process of then-called North Carolina Motor Speedway (NCMS) being described as a "well-kept secret" by State writer Joe Whitlock in an April 1965 report. On April 23, 1965, Brasington announced the track's inaugural event: a NASCAR Grand National Series race on October 31 titled the American 500. In May, grandstands for the facility were constructed. Four months later, Paving of NCMS was completed, At the end of the track's construction, NCMS had a seating capacity of 26,062, with the project costing approximately $1,000,000 (adjusted for inflation, $). The entirety of the project was financed by a group of 11 investors headed by attorney Elsie Webb; the group of investors included Webb, Brasington, Dr. George Galloway, L. G. DeWitt, L. V. Hogan, R. N. Lewis, R. W. Goodman, Hugh A. Lee, Bernie Locklear, J. M. Long, and W. R. Webb Jr.
Early Elsie Webb years
The first testing sessions took place on September 21 by drivers Darel Dieringer and Bobby Isaac, with Dieringer setting an unofficial world record for average speed on a mile-long oval. An official world record attempt was made six days later, with David Pearson setting a lap of . NCMS officially opened to the public on October 27 for qualifying runs for the American 500. The race ran four days later, with Curtis Turner winning the event. After the event, the facility received consistent positive reviews from both drivers and media for its amenities and racing product. In January 1966, Brasington sold his interest of NCMS, with Webb taking over as president and general manager of NCMS a month later. In June 1967, construction of an air-conditioned "experiment" grandstand near the track's press box was completed. A year and a half later, NCMS officials announced a $150,000 project to completely repave the track and add a lane to an infield tunnel that was widely criticized for being one lane wide. Originally, plans were also made to reconfigure the oval to ; however, the idea was scrapped in April, with Webb stating, "I talked with 90% of the drivers and didn't find one in favor of lengthening the track". Repaving of NCMS began on March and was completed in October of that year; by the end of the repave, the straights were banked at 8°, the first two turns at 22°, and the last two turns at 25°. However, after one race that saw numerous crashes due to rough patches caused by rainy weather during the repave, the track was repaved again and completed by February 1970 to correct the issue.
L. G. DeWitt era On January 18, 1972, Elsie Webb died from ulcer surgery complications. Nine days later, NASCAR team owner and peach farmer L. G. DeWitt was elected as Webb's replacement as president of NCMS. Developments on the facility remained slow in the early years of DeWitt's leadership. In 1977, after the track surface received complaints from drivers for being too rough, track officials opted to place down sealant in time for the 1977 Carolina 500; it was widely negatively received by drivers and beat reporters for making the surface too slippery, being blamed for numerous wrecks in that year's Carolina 500. Despite complaints, continued occasional coats of sealant were put on the track in following years, with track officials stating that the sealant was cheaper than the alternative of repaving. That same year, a road course layout consisting of parts of the oval and newly constructed sections within the track's infield was completed in December. The following year, the track's scoring board was updated from a manual, hand-operated scoreboard to an electronic scoreboard. In March 1979, a brief attempt to depose DeWitt as president by stockholder L. V. Hogan was made; however, the conflict was resolved after DeWitt agreed to buy any stock from dissenting stockholders.
In the early 1980s, California businessman Warner W. Hodgdon made numerous unsuccessful attempts to purchase ownership of NCMS. Starting in the mid-1980s, numerous developments were made to NCMS. In 1984, NCMS owners purchased the nearby Rockingham Dragway, placing it under NCMS control. Within the same year, new cement barriers to the track's third and fourth turns along with a new 1,500-seat grandstand over the first turn named the Winston Tower were either completed or announced. The following year, after delaying it for a year, NCMS underwent a complete repave in time for the 1985 Nationwise 500; the first since 1969. Another 4,500-seat tower located at the track's fourth turn alongside the addition of six VIP lounges was completed in 1986, increasing seating capacity to approximately 33,000. In 1990, another 1,500-seat grandstand on the track's fourth turn was announced.
Conflict with growth of NASCAR, Roger Penske purchase Heading into the 1990s, the facility's future as a whole, particularly on retaining a Cup Series weekend was uncertain due to NASCAR's prioritization in expanding into bigger television markets. On October 9, 1990, L. G. DeWitt died after a lengthy bout with an illness, with Frank Wilson being elected to replace DeWitt as NCMS president nine days later. In 1992, NCMS sold its ownership of Rockingham Dragway to Atlanta Dragway owner Stephen Earwood. NCMS officials also announced the construction of an additional tower containing 2,000 seats at the track's second turn within the year. Frank's tenure as president was brief; four years into his title, he died on August 20, 1994, due to a stroke. L. G. DeWitt's daughter, Joyce DeWitt Wilson, replaced Frank as president of NCMS in September. In July 1995, numerous renovated buildings were built, improving the infield care center, garages, and media center. However, despite expansion and seating additions, the facility remained one of the lowest attended tracks on the NASCAR schedule by the mid-1990s, and fears of NCMS being dropped from the Cup Series schedule due to its small market and attendance numbers were widespread.
Penske–Smith battle for control
In 1995, two businessmen bought partial ownership of NCMS: Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) founder Bruton Smith bought 24-25% interest from Horris DeWitt in April and motorsports businessman Roger Penske bought "less than 2%" in May. Days after Penske bought partial interest, Smith stated that he wished to completely buy out control of NCMS; in response, majority stockholder Carrie DeWitt stated that she refused to sell her 65% controlling interest for the facility on June 18. Smith later increased his interest in September, buying out Richard Howard and Claude Smith's shares in the facility.
Throughout 1997, Penske and Smith engaged in a bidding war with each other over the purchase and control of NCMS. On April 3, Penske and his company, Penske Motorsports, offered to buy the facility for $29.4 million (adjusted for inflation, $). In response, Smith made a counter-offer of $48.3 million (adjusted for inflation, $). A week later, Penske increased his offer to "nearly $41 million", obtaining an option to buy out Carrie's interest in NCMS. Despite the offer, Smith stated that Penske's claim of fully purchasing NCMS was "premature", and later increased his offer to $72 million; an offer that Carrie eventually refused due to her fears that the track would be left abandoned like the SMI-owned North Wilkesboro Speedway. In May, Penske announced that he acquired all of Carrie's stock, thus becoming the majority owner of NCMS. However, two months later, NCMS' board of directors recommended merging with SMI, casting doubt on Penske's majority ownership and continuing the dispute into litigation. In November, the North Carolina Business Court dismissed a lawsuit Smith filed against Penske and his company, Penske Motorsports; a month later, Penske Motorsports officially merged with NCMS, placing the facility under Penske's control.
As part of Penske's purchase, in February 1998, the track's name was changed to "North Carolina Speedway". Renovations were also made within the year; the frontstretch grandstands were rebuilt with chairs and the backstretch Hamlet Grandstand was completely replaced with a 28,021-seat grandstand in time for the 1998 AC Delco 400, increasing seating capacity to 60,122. That same year, Smith and 15 shareholders sued Penske in the North Carolina Supreme Court on the argument that the DeWitt family "had to sell to the highest bidder". He additionally asked for Penske to pay him $50 per share for his stock, or $17.7 million total. In May 1999, Penske Motorsports and the France family-owned International Speedway Corporation (ISC) agreed to merge, officially merging two months later under the ISC name. Also in the same year, NCMS' pit road was reconfigured to one singular pit lane and lengthened to . In April 2000, the North Carolina Supreme Court determined the stock to be worth $23.47 per share, awarding Smith "more than $3.6 million"; a decision received positively by Penske. Two years later, Jo Wilson stepped down as president of NCMS at the end of the year, with Chris Browning being named as the president in newspaper reports by 2003.
Ferko lawsuit, subsequent NASCAR hiatus