It’s been nearly one year since media members were given an intimate tour of a nearly completed zMAX Dragway. On that day, they learned first hand what many fans and competitors would learn later, that Speedway Motorsports Chairman Bruton Smith had been true to his word and delivered the Bellagio of drag strips.
Since the Speedway Motorsports development team put the finishing touches on the one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art, four-lane drag strip, the stock car capital of the world has been introduced to one big straight-line success after another.
“Bruton Smith gave NHRA fans an arena like this, which is the greatest facility in the history of our sport,” said 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force.
Perhaps the late David Poole, noted motorsports writer for the Charlotte Observer, may have put it best last September during the week of the first NHRA Nationals, “zMAX Dragway is by far the best facility that now exists.”
Unique Feature: Only four-lane, all concrete quarter-mile dragway surface
Length: 3,835 feet (1,345 feet of concrete)
Shutdown Length: 2,515 feet
Width of Dragway: 60 feet
Dragway Acreage: 125 acres
Elevation: 630 feet
Seating Capacity: Approximately 30,000
Luxury Suites: 11 in Dragway Tower and 17 on top of John ForceGrandstands
Lighting: Musco
Sanction: National Hot Rod Association
