Gear Head
- Mar 7, 2022
- 4 min read

NASCAR Is Talking About Putting A Roof Over Bristol Motorsports Speedway?

Wait, hold the phone. There has been talk about a roof being placed over the Bristol Motorsports Speedway. These sources come from many reliable resources, even NASCAR themselves has released a full report on this update.

The idea is feasible, it’s a matter of finances. One sports stadium architect expert estimates such a project at Bristol would cost at least $80 million.

Benjamin Flowers, a professor of Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture, said the key for any track would be a cover that does not fully enclose the stadium. By not having an enclosed roof, there will be places for exhaust emissions and sound to escape and fresh air to circulate.

Flowers notes that the “operating expenses of this novel approach (of covering a track) are unknown. That is, historically, you don’t want to be the first to try something this high-risk. You want to know what the business model is.”

A cover would be valuable even if Bristol’s spring race weekend returned to April. Bristol had 7.55 inches of rain last April, the city’s most rainfall in that month in more than 40 years, according to the National Weather Service. From 2016-20, there was more rain in Bristol in April than March by nearly 4 inches, National Weather Service data showed.

With a need for a covering, the question is cost.

“No engineering firm and architecture firm is going to give you a realistic number,” said Flowers, who has written multiple books on sports stadium architecture. “They’re going to say, ‘We think it might cost this, but it could cost a lot more.’ The likelihood is it will.

“That’s before we even get into the global demand for building materials right now in a post-pandemic startup. It’s going to drive up the cost of steel. It’s going to drive up the cost of concrete. It’s going to drive up the cost of everything you’re looking to work with on this project, including labor. … If you asked me, off the cuff, what would this cost? I would say you’re looking at at least an $80 million project.”

Another benefit of a cover — even if it does not enclose the facility as a roof would — is that it could allow the track and NASCAR to do some creative scheduling.

Should NASCAR continue to hold the Daytona 500 on President’s Day weekend in February, maybe it’s possible to make Bristol the second race of the season. Imagine the potential for fireworks by starting the season at Daytona and then going to a short track? The high temperature in Bristol the week after Daytona 500 the past two years was in the mid 50s.

With a need for a covering, the question is cost.

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ORIGINAL POST 4-8-2021: Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith is serious about putting a roof over Bristol Motor Speedway.

While his father, Bruton Smith, floated the idea four years ago, Marcus made it clear during recent visits to the Dale Jr. Download and the Sirius NASCAR radio show “Dialed- In with Claire B. Lang,” this was no April Fool’s joke. There are ongoing discussions on how to achieve this over the next few years.

While the idea sounds far-fetched to some, it’s an engineering feat that certainly seems possible. There are obvious challenges, but this is the same company which turned BMS into the world’s largest football stadium and brought in 23,000 tons of dirt to host the first NASCAR Cup Series race on dirt in 50 years.

There are concerns about air quality and noise, which would be addressed.

Racing indoors is nothing new. The Tulsa (Oklahoma) Expo Center annually hosts the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. It’s the largest midget car event on the calendar year with over 300 entries. Other places like Terre Haute, Indiana have indoor racing throughout the winter. Of course, those places don’t 100,000-plus fans in attendance.

This article was first on Gear Head on April 14, 2021.

SOURCES: Johnson City Press - Racing News