Richmond International Raceway

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

Richmond International Raceway
Facility statistics
Location	Henrico County, Virginia
Broke ground
Opened
Owner
Operator
Construction cost
Architect
Former names
Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway 1969-1988 Virginia State Fairgrounds 1964-1968 Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds 1959-1963 Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds 1955-1958
Major events
NASCAR Nextel Cup Crown Royal 400 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 NASCAR Busch Series Circuit City 250 presented by FUNAI Emerson Radio 250 Indy Racing League SunTrust Indy Challenge
Seating capacity
Current dimensions
Track shape	Tri-oval
Track length	0.75 miles
Track banking

Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a A 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series. "America's Premier Short Track" also hosts the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, and the United States Auto Club Silver Crown and National Sprint Car Series.

Richmond International Raceway is the only track to host all of its events "under the lights," and features some of the best racing on both NASCAR's and the IndyCar Series' schedules. The track has sold out the last 30 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races and features some of the best racing in all of motorsports.

For tickets to Richmond International Raceway events, contact the ticket office at 1-866-455-RACE (7223) or visit www.rir.com.

Richmond International Raceway is located at the Richmond Raceway Complex, which is an 800-acre (3.2 km²), multi-purpose facility.

Richmond Raceway Complex also hosts the Virginia Golf Show, Bassarama, Richmond Home and Garden Show, RV and Camping Expo, Richmond Boat Show, Richmond Classic Sports Card Show, East Coast Sawmill and Logging Equipment Expo, Craftsmen Classic Spring and Christmas Shows, Bizarre Bazaar Spring and Christmas Shows and other various arts and craft events.

Outdoor festivals hosted by Richmond Raceway Complex in 2004 included the Virginia State Fair, Richmond Highland Games & Celtic Festival, March of Dimes Bikers for Babies, K95 Country Music Festival, [1] 102.1 The X], ACCA Temple Pork Festival, the VA Food Festival and concerts featuring local and national recording artists.

The former name for RIR was Strawberry Hill until RIR bought out the Virginia State Fairgounds in 1999. The Strawberry Hill Races were formerly held the third Saturday of April at the Richmond Raceway Complex. In 2000, the Races were moved to Colonial Downs in New Kent County, Virginia's first Thoroughbred racetrack.

Richmond hosts the final race leading up to the start of the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

[edit] Trivia

• The track operated as a 0.5 mile oval through the spring race of 1988. During the spring and summer of 1988, the track was reconfigured to its current layout of 0.75 miles. The first race under the new configuration was in September 1988. Lights were added for the fall 1991 race.
• The track was previously called Richmond Fairgrounds Speedway and the annual fair made the track a popular venue.
• Richard Petty holds the record of most wins at Richmond with 13 victories, Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace are tied with six.
• Richmond is the site of the famous battle between Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip in 1986. Earnhardt tapped Waltrip in turn 4 and both drivers hit the wall, handing the win to Kyle Petty who avoided the crash and won.
• In 2001 to 2002, the fall event was sponsored the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 presented by the Looney Tunes and in 2003, the event was renamed the Chevy Rock and Roll 400.
• Until 2005, RIR was home to a fall Craftsman Truck Series race. Starting with the 2006 schedule, that date was transferred to Talladega Superspeedway.

[edit] Current Races

• Nextel Cup - Crown Royal 400
• Nextel Cup - Chevy Rock and Roll 400
• Busch Series - Circuit City 250
• Busch Series - Emerson Radio 250
• Indy Racing League - SunTrust Indy Challenge

[edit] Records

• NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying: Brian Vickers, 20.772 sec. (129.983 mph), 2004
• NASCAR Nextel Cup Race: Dale Jarrett, 2 hrs. 45 min. 4 sec. (109.047 mph), 1997
• NASCAR Busch Series Qualifying: Kyle Busch, 20.874 sec. (129.348 mph), 2004
• NASCAR Busch Series Race: Dale Jarrett, 1 hr. 47 min. 13 sec. (104.928 mph), 1995

[edit] External links

• Richmond International Raceway Official Site
• Richmond International Raceway Page on NASCAR.com
• RIR visitor's guide
• Richmond Raceway Complex website
• richmond.com article on Strawbery hill
• Winston-Salem Journal Op-ed piece on the history of RIR
• Super High Resolution image from Windows Live Local
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 37.59169° -77.42091°
  • WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Local
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
• Photos from the 2006 IRL Suntrust 250 in Richmond, Virginia