Each year, publicly traded companies that own race tracks must list their grandstand seating capacities.
International Speedway Corp., which owns 12 tracks that NASCAR races, issued its report in January. Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns eight tracks NASCAR races, and Dover Motorsports Inc., which owns one track with Sprint Cup races, issued their reports last week.
With those reports, a list of seating capacities can be compiled for the NASCAR circuit. Only Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway – both privately owned – do not release such information. The Indianapolis Star has reported the seating capacity at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as 235,000.
Among tracks that report seating capacity, Daytona International Speedway remains the largest at 147,000 – but that won’t last much longer.
Once the Daytona Rising project is completed, Daytona will have about 101,000 seats. That project is set to be completed in time for next year’s Daytona 500.
Six of the top 10 tracks that report seating capacities are owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc., including Bristol Motor Speedway, which is set to take over the No. 1 spot next year with its seating capacity of 146,000.
Here’s a look at each track that plays host to a NASCAR Sprint Cup race and its permanent seating capacity:
1 – Daytona International Speedway … 147,000
2 – Bristol Motor Speedway … 146,000
3 – Texas Motor Speedway … 137,000
4 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway … 123,000
5 – Kentucky Speedway … 107,000
6 – Dover International Speedway … 96,000
7 – Charlotte Motor Speedway … 89,000
8 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway … 88,000
9 – Talladega Superspeedway … 78,000
10 – Kansas Speedway … 74,000
11 – Atlanta Motor Speedway … 71,000
12 – Michigan International Speedway … 71,000
13 – Richmond International Raceway … 71,000
14 – Auto Club Speedway … 68,000
15 – Darlington Raceway … 58,000
16 – Chicagoland Speedway … 55,500
17 – Martinsville Speedway … 55,000
18 – Phoenix International Raceway … 51,000
19 – Sonoma Raceway … 47,000
20 – Homestead-Miami Speedway … 46,000
21 – Watkins Glen International … 33,000
