Homestead-Miami Speedway

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Location	1 Speedway Boulevard Homestead, Florida 33035
Capacity	65,000
Owner	International Speedway Corporation
Operator	International Speedway Corporation
Broke ground	August 24, 1993
Opened	November 5, 1995
Construction cost	$70 million
Former names	Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex (1995-1996)
Major events	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 NASCAR Nationwide Series Ford 300 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Ford 200 IRL IndyCar Series XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 IRL Firestone Indy Lights Miami 100 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami
Oval
Circuit length	1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Banking	Turns 18-20° (progressive) Straights 3°
Lap record	0:24.462 (Sam Hornish, Jr., Penske Racing, 2006, IRL IndyCar Series)
Road Course
Circuit length	2.3 mi (3.7 km)
Turns	12
Lap record	1:13.022 (David Donohue, Brumos Porsche, 2008 Daytona Prototype)

Homestead-Miami Speedway is a race track in Homestead, Florida southwest of Miami. It plays host to Ford Championship Weekend, the final races of the season in the IRL IndyCar Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. The NASCAR races are currently all sponsored by Ford Motor Company, taking the names Ford 400, Ford 300, and Ford 200, respectively.

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.

History

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 (currently the Nationwide Series) race. In the spring of 1996, the CART series held its first race there.

The facility is considered by some to be one of the most beautiful in the country. Though located southwest of Miami, the track reflects the art deco district of Miami Beach with its liberal use of colors such as aqua, purple and silver, among other colors.

However, the racing at Homestead was initially not considered very good. The track opened as a four-turn, rectangular-oval, based on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's layout. 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). 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. Shortly afterwards, 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 Camping World Truck Race in March 1997, and Jeff Clinton who died in a Grand Am sports car event at the track in March 2002.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats

Map of Homestead-Miami Speedway

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Records

As of 11/18/07

• Most Wins - (3) - Greg Biffle
• Most Top 5's - (4) - Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon
• Most Top 10's - (15) - Jeff Gordon
• Starts - (9) - 7 Drivers
• Poles - (2) - Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson
• Laps Led - (330) - Tony Stewart
• Avg Start (Minimum 3 starts) - (2.8) - Kasey Kahne
• Avg Finish (Minimum 3 starts) - (7.8) - Carl Edwards

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Winners

*Race extended due to Green-White-Checker Finish

Records

IndyCar

Type	Distance (miles / km)	Date	Driver	Chassis / Engine	Time	Average Speed (mph / km/h)
Qualifying (1 lap)	1.485 / 2.390	March 25, 2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Dallara / Honda	0:00:24.462	218.539 / 351.704
Race (200 laps)	297.000 / 477.975	March 26, 2006	Dan Wheldon	Dallara / Honda	1:46:15.530	167.730 / 269.935

NASCAR

Record	Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Time	Average Speed (mph)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Qualifying	2003		Jamie McMurray	Dodge	29.816	181.111
Race (400 miles)	1999	November 14	Tony Stewart	Pontiac	2:51:14	140.335 (before reconfiguration)
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Qualifying	2004		Casey Mears	Dodge	30.348	177.936
Race (300 miles)	2001	November 10	Joe Nemechek	Chevy	2:16:10	132.191 (before reconfiguration)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Qualifying	2007	November 16	Jon Wood	Ford	31.180	173.188
Race (200 miles)	2002	November 15	Ron Hornaday	Chevy	1:30:30	133.260 (before reconfiguration)

Simulation / Video Game List

Simulation / Video Game	Year	Configuration
		1995	2003	2003 (10 turns)	2003 (14 turns)
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli	Cart World Series	2008	Y		Y

See also

• List of NASCAR race tracks

External links

• Homestead-Miami Speedway Official Site
• Homestead-Miami Speedway Page on NASCAR.com
• Trackpedia guide to driving this track
• High Resolution image from Google Maps

Coordinates: 25°27′06″N 80°24′31″W / 25.45154°N 80.40859°W / 25.45154; -80.40859

• [1]
• 2006 Toyota 300 Indy Race League Video Summary