Going to check out a high-octane race at the Dover International Speedway is a rite of passage for every Delawarean. If you've never been, you're certainly missing out on all the action. So, to help you become more acquainted with a first state tradition, we're going to help you out. We're going to provide you with the ultimate guide for the Dover International Speedway. After reading this guide, you'll feel like you've been a regular your whole life.
Beginning with the Basics
The first step is understanding the tickets and availability. You want to plan ahead, and not just show up on race day looking for a seat. Do your research online and find out when there's a race that you'd want to see. Browse the ticket selection to figure out your price range. You can even check out the seating chart to figure out where you want to sit, or where your ticketed seats are located. That way, you'll know enough to be able to find your seats without any problems.
Drawing the Crowds
The Dover International Speedway draws a huge crowd, and not just from local Delaware residents, either. The track even hosts the annual Firefly Music Festival at The Woodlands. At the festival last year, nearly 90,000 people were in attendance for the weekend-long concert.
Of course, the Firefly Music Festival is only one of many events that take place at the Dover International Speedway. Most notably, the raceway hosts several competitive races that draw crowds of up to 85,000 screaming fans. To learn about the upcoming races, be sure to check the schedule.
Track Facts
The track at the Dover International Speedway is only one mile long, but every attendee gets a great view of the action, no matter where they're sitting. The width of the track is 48 feet at straightaways and 58 feet at turns. The length of each race varies, depending on how many laps are being driven. The Sunday Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race generally lasts 3 1⁄2 hours with 400 laps, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is only 200 laps at 2 1⁄2 hours.
Record Holders
The Dover International Speedway has even been the location for some impressive feats and broken records. At the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Brad Keselowski won the fastest qualifying lap at 21.892 seconds, while Mark Martin got the fastest race at 3:00:50. During the NASCAR XFINITY Series, Erik Jones got the fastest lap at 22.739 seconds, with the fastest race set at 1:31:27 by Joey Logano.
Getting Behind the Wheel
Every person that has seen a race in person wants to get behind the wheel of a race car and test their skills on the track. Luckily, organizations like the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience, the Richard Petty Driving Experience, and the NASCAR Racing Experience rent the track and offer people like you the opportunity to take a real race car out. You'll have to keep checking with those organizations for the next time that they rent the track at Dover International Speedway to see when you can put the pedal to the medal yourself.
Now that you're more familiar with the Dover International Speedway, you're ready to attend some races and cheer your favorite drivers on as they're whipping around the track.
