One of the largest tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit is actually among the smallest.
Yes, it makes sense.
According to documents filed to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission by companies that own tracks, the facility with the largest seating capacity that details that information is Bristol Motor Speedway at 146,000 seats.
Bristol also is among the smallest tracks. The .533-mile track is larger only than Martinsville Speedway’s .526-mile track.
Of course, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has more seats and ranks No. 1 on the list of capacity but the track does not have to report its capacity since it is privately owned. Pocono Raceway also does not have to report its capacity since it is privately owned.
Here’s the listed seating capacities for tracks that host Sprint Cup races from reports by Speedway Motorsports Inc., International Speedway Corp., and Dover Motorsports Inc.:
1. Bristol Motor Speedway … 146,000
2. Texas Motor Speedway … 137,000
3. Kentucky Speedway … 107,000
4. Las Vegas Motor Speedway … 104,000
5. Daytona International Speedway … 101,000
6. Dover International Speedway … 96,000
7. New Hampshire Motor Speedway … 89,000
8. Charlotte Motor Speedway … 86,000
9. Talladega Superspeedway … 78,000
10. Michigan International Speedway … 71,000
11. Atlanta Motor Speedway … 70,000
12. Auto Club Speedway … 68,000
13. Kansas Speedway … 64,000
14. Richmond International Raceway … 59,000
15. Darlington Raceway … 58,000
16. Chicagoland Speedway … 55,500
17. Martinsville Speedway … 55,000
18. Phoenix International Raceway … 51,000
19. Sonoma Raceway … 47,000*
20. Homestead-Miami Speedway … 46,000
21. Watkins Glen International … 33,000
- Sonoma total is supplemented by temporary and other general admission seating arrangements.
Some tracks had their capacity change from the previous year.
Daytona reduced capacity by 46,000 with the removal of the backstretch seats as part of its $400 million Daytona Rising project. Las Vegas reduced capacity by 19,000. Richmond removed backstretch seats, reducing its capacity by 12,000. Kansas reduced capacity by 10,000. Charlotte reduced capacity by 3,000. Atlanta reduced capacity by 1,000. New Hampshire increased capacity by 1,000.
Here’s a look at how NASCAR tracks compare in terms of seating capacity to the five largest NFL stadiums, according to the site Stadiums of Pro Football:
1. Met Life Stadium (New York Giants/Jets) … 82,500
2. Lambeau Field (Green Bays Packers) … 80,735
3. AT&T Stadium (Dallas Cowboys) … 80,000
4. Fed Ex Field (Washington Redskins) … 79,000
5. Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans Saints) … 76,468
