Homestead-Miami Speedway

Location	Homestead, Florida
Track length	1.5 miles (2.41 kilometres)
Track shape	Oval
Banking	Turns 20° (Variable) Straights - 3°
Major events	NASCAR NEXTEL Cup NASCAR Busch Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Indy Racing League
Capacity	65,000
Address	1 Speedway Blvd., Homestead, Florida 33035
Owner	International Speedway Corporation

Homestead-Miami Speedway (formerly Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex) is a race track in Homestead, Florida, USA, southwest of Miami. It plays host to the Ford Championship Weekend, hosting the final races of the year in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch Series, and the Craftsman Truck Series. These races are currently all sponsored by Ford Motors, taking the names Ford 400, Ford 300, and Ford 200, respectively.

The speedway was constructed, with the efforts of promotor Ralph Sanchez, as part of a plan to help Homestead rebound after the devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew. Groundbreaking began August 24, 1993, less than a year after the hurricane. It opened in November 1995 with a NASCAR Busch Series race. In the spring of 1996, the CART series held its first race there.

The facility is considered by some to be one of the most beautiful in the country. The track reflects the art deco district of downtown Miami with its liberal use of colors such as aqua, purple and silver, among other colors.

However, the racing at Homestead was initially not considered very good. The track opened as a four-turn, rectangular-oval, based on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's layout. The sharp, flat turns and aprons made passing difficult and lowered overall speed. The geometry also created unfavorably severe crash angles. In 1996, track management attempted to correct the problems by wideing the aprons of the turns by as much as 24 feet. In the summer of 1997, an $8.2 million reconfiguration project changed the turns from a quad-oval to a traditional, continuous turn oval.

In 2003, the track was reconfigured once again. The turns were changed from mostly flat to steep variable banking. Shortly afterwards, lights were installed to allow night racing for the first time. The renovations were praised by fans, and the track has produced a number of close finishes, including 2005's last-lap battle between Greg Biffle and Mark Martin.

On March 26, 2006 however, Indy Racing League driver Paul Dana suffered fatal injuries in the warm-up session before the season-opening round of the championship. He was involved in a high-speed collision, with Ed Carpenter at over 215 mph. His death is the first in the Indy Racing League since Tony Renna died at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October 2003, and only the 3rd ever since the series started. He also is the only other driver to suffer fatal injuries at the speedway since John Nemechek, and Jeff Clinton who died in a Grand Am sports car event at the track in March 2002

Records

• NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying: Jamie McMurray, 29.816 sec. (181.111 mph), 2003
• NASCAR Nextel Cup Race: Tony Stewart, 140.335 mph, November 14, 1999
• NASCAR Busch Series Qualifying: Casey Mears, 30.348 sec. (177.936 mph), 2004
• NASCAR Busch Series Race: Joe Nemechek, 132.191 mph, November 10, 2001
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: David Reutimann, 31.193 sec. (173.116 mph), 2005
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race: Ron Hornaday, 133.260 mph, November 15, 2002

Current Events

• NASCAR Nextel Cup - Ford 400
• NASCAR Busch Series - Ford 300
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series - Ford 200
• Indy Racing League - Toyota Indy 300