CONCORD, N.C. — Just one month after officials broke ground for what Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Chairman O. Bruton Smith says will be the “Bellagio of drag strips,” construction is well under way on The Dragway @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the site for the inaugural NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series’ Carolinas Nationals Sept. 11-14.
Crews have poured nearly 70 percent of the concrete pilings for the facility’s primary grandstand. A portion of the grandstand, which originated from the backstretch at the recently reopened Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway, has already been installed.
Grading at the starting-line end of the strip has been completed, and three large temporary pads to be used for the construction of the starting-line tower walls are in place. Crews are excavating the first of two pedestrian tunnels from the professional pit area to the sportsman pit area.
Completion of the quarter-mile strip is slated in time for the September NHRA event, the first race in the series’ six-race Countdown to the Championship and the series’ first race in North Carolina since 1998.