An initial bid by the city of Gardner, Kansas, was made in February 1997 however, the plan met local opposition and the city eventually backtracked after city officials witnessed the 1997 Daytona 500, realizing that building it in Gardner would be too close to already existing residential development along with heavy traffic congestion. In addition, the project was supported by the Kansas City Area Development Council. An official for ISC, John Story, mentioned that the Kansas City metropolitan area was a suitable area that the company was looking at. Track history Initial bids, planning Īs part of the oval track construction boom in the 1990s, in December 1996, the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) announced preliminary plans to find a location to build a $100 million, 120,000-seat capacity track. The casino overlooks the track's second turn, features a 268,000 square foot complex, and is themed after the Hollywood area in Los Angeles, California. The casino is a joint venture by the track and Penn Entertainment, who bought out Cordish. The Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway was approved in 2009 after an initial failed attempt by the track and the Cordish Corporation the previous year. At its peak, the track had a capacity of 82,000, which occurred in the mid-2000s. As of 2019, the track has a current capacity of 48,000, down from its previous 64,000 according to annual reports from ISC. At the time of the track's construction, the complex covered 1,250 acres, had a capacity of around 75,000, and had 65 rows of grandstand seating. The track is next to an intersection of the concurrent Interstate 70, U.S. The track is served by numerous major roads. The road course is 2.37 miles (3.81 km) long, with the infield portion of the course having six turns. The road course was constructed in 2012 as part of renovations made to the track. During the track's construction in 2000, then-track president Grant Lynch stated that initial plans for the track included an infield road course.

Within the track's infield, there is an infield road course that is connected to the main oval track to create a ' roval'. Different measurements of length have been used Ind圜ar has utilized a length of 1.52 miles (2.45 km) for its races. The frontstretch has 10 degrees of banking, and the backstretch has 5.5 degrees of banking. Subsequently, the track has 17 degrees of banking at the track's bottom lane, and 20 degrees of banking at the track's top lane in the turns. The speedway in its current form is measured at 1.5 miles (2.4 km), with the track having a progressive banking system in the turns. Since 2001, the track has remained in some form within the NASCAR calendar.ĭescription Configurations

Although the track was scheduled to open in 2000, the track faced multiple lawsuits by homeowners who lived in the area, pushing its construction back by months and delaying its opening to 2001. In 1997, ISC announced plans to build a track in the Kansas City metropolitan area, eventually building it in Wyandotte County, Kansas. Within the track also exists an infield road course that is used with the oval to make a ' roval'.Īs part of the construction boom of oval tracks in the 1990s, the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) sought to build a track in the Midwest. The track is adjacent to the Hollywood Casino, which opened in 2012 and is a joint venture by Penn Entertainment and the track, along with a retail outlet complex that was built during the track's construction. Route 40, along with Interstate 435.Īs of 2019, the track has a stated capacity of 48,000, down from its peak of 82,000 in the mid-2000s. The track is served by the concurrent Interstate 70, U.S.

The track has been owned by NASCAR since 2019, with Patrick Warren serving as the track's president.

The track, since its inaugural season of racing in 2001, has hosted a variety of racing series, including NASCAR, Ind圜ar, and the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Kansas Speedway (formerly known as Kansas International Speedway in initial planning and construction stages) is a 1.500-mile (2.414 km) tri-oval intermediate speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.

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