Charlotte Motor Speedway — Attraction in Concord

While I have never been to a NASCAR race myself in person, as I am not that much of a NASCAR fan and I am mainly into other types of motorsports and automobiles, every time I have been here, I have had such a fantastic time. Also, this speedway feels incredible just to see and drive by even when I was not visiting it for an event. And it has a very renowned reputation for a reason. It certainly makes a tremendous and positive impact to Charlotte, Concord, and the surrounding region.It is known globally

I have been here a total of three times in my life. The first time I went was with my father and grandfather as a boy of around 10 years old in the year 1997. My grandfather wanted to go to the antique car show held annually and I along with my father went with him. While it was a scorching spring day that made me feel thirsty, I saw many vintage cars, including some Ferrari's and vintage Cobra's, a futuristic looking concept car, and so many historical vehicles it made my head spin. And I even got to see many automotive mechanical parts. It was certainly an experience I will always remember as a child with my grandpa.

Then the next time I went was well over a decade later in the year 2010. Again, a wonderful time, but for a very different reason. I rode with my internship coworkers in one of their cars to see the Christmas lights display on the speedway. And it was a very elaborate display with so many dazzling things to see that stayed with me all of these years. It was a Christmas light display like no other I had seen prior and I am sure it took many man hours to put all of that together to show and display. We also drove on part of the outer speedway itself, which was fun to do. Again, another awesome experience at the Charlotte Motor Speedway that I will never forget.

And finally my favorite and greatest experience I had here at the Charlotte Motor Speedway was my last experience, which was in the summer of 2016. I signed up the Xtreme Xperience event where you can pay to sign up and drive some exotic sports cars, where they are best suited and most at home, which is on a race track (photos of me below). You drive them like they were meant to be driven. I came here that day and was given a driving lecture and some instruction with some others and then went to another part of the Speedway where I first was introduced to the inner racetrack by riding in a Mitsubishi Evo track car.

Then next up, I got to drive my first car, a McLaren 570S, and see what it was like to drive such a sports car on a race track, and it was a very adrenaline packed, memorable, and thrilling experience, as you would expect. I did the same for a Ferrari F430 and a Nissan GTR. All sports or exotic cars I had never driven before and one I had never even seen with my own eyes until that day. I was pleased to see what it was like to race these sorts of cars on a racetrack. I was then given a video, photos, and some other momentos before leaving race day as it was referred to by the staff and driving instructors.

This was truly an experience I will cherish forever, since I love motorsports, racing, especially when exotic and sports cars are involved. The price to do all of this was what I thought I was reasonable too. And there really is hardly anywhere else you have the opportunity to do something like this.

All in all, every time I have been here, I have done or experienced something festivous, fun, or momentous. So I have nothing but fond memories here.

And I am sure so many other people do too with so many special events and opportunities to do at this speedway in which you cannot really do anywhere else in the region, including of course all of the NASCAR races, which I presume is what most people come here for.

Anyone living in the region should visit at least once in their life, in my opinion. There are still a number of events I want to possibly go to at the Charlotte Motor Speedway later too like the NASCAR driving experience or driving some exotic sports cars they have available that I did not drive the last...

Edit:: 2023: ZERO STARS! We had friends convince us to join them for the Christmas light show, and Im sad to report that it was just as bad as my first time three years ago. Not only were the tickets they paid for an extra $20, but we literally spent 3.5 hours driving around the parking lots and still an hour into the light show and we still stuck in traffic merging in and out of the 2 lines with no exit in sight. The fast lane was a joke, massive traffic in both lanes. We arrived at 6:20pm on Saturday (they open at 6pm) and their sign said it was a 1.5 hr wait. That was false information. It's a "nice" light show but after all this time with no water, food, no quick access to the restrooms or real entertainment [4 kids (ages 2 to 9) and 4 adults] no one is paying attention to the light show. Kids are sleeping and parents are cranky.

2020: 2 STARS First time here for the Christmas light show and most likely our last. We arrived outside the property around 7:45pm on Sunday night (when the website says its a better night due to less traffic) and didnt get into the parking area for about 40 mins as police directed traffic in. 3.5 hours literally driving through two boring, muddy parking lots (one before the ticket booth, one after) all for 32 mins of light show. Sure the lights were nice but definitely not worth $28 fee or 4 hour waste of time to get in. Very disappointing as we went with our 6yo and 2 yo and both were out asleep before getting into the light show at 1140pm! On the way out was okay regarding a few more lights but, we witnessed a jeep with teens basically stealing/removing signs from along the path. They definitely did not work there. Unfortunately overall, a very poorly...

The race was great. The getting from one place to another was frustrating. We had pre race passes and from there, we went up to our seats. Later we decided to go back down to the field. Apparently there is a secret handshake route that we weren't aware of & trying to get directions, everyone kept telling us to take a shuttle. WHAT? We just walked up to our seats from the field. We just want to walk back down. We don't need no stinkin' shuttle. Anyway, after going all the way back out we needed to get our hand stamp in case we did it again, regardless of already having 2 wrist bands insinuating that we had already gotten our tickets. The stamper girl told us just to go on the 3rd floor and into the field area from there. Wow. We'll know for next time, but it's definitely confusing. And the signs above the rows for the box seats were of no help either. Why not just have "Rows 40 - 59, seats 20-30 L & 19-10 R" on the sign? Very confusing. 1st time going to a Nascar race. My wife went above & beyond & got us pre-race track access. We even got to sign our names on the start/finish line. Food was over expensive, but you have to deal with that at any event. What a great time we had. Leaving the parking lot sucked, but that also is to be expected. I just wish more people would merge in back & forth. Honestly, you're not getting much farther by being an a$$. I think the smart ones stayed overnight in their RV's & left the next day. 😁 OH, and I got to meet the...