New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a relatively new race track in comparison to the historic NASCAR facilities such as Richmond International Raceway and Daytona International Speedway.

NHMS was opened in 1990 in Loudon, NH. The 1.058-mile, mostly flat oval was reportedly built without the help of engineer, by Bob Bahre. 

NASCAR’s Busch (now Nationwide Series) ran at the new track twice a year and finally in 2003 the track was given a Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) Series date. Rusty Wallace took the checkers in the first Cup race at NHMS.

The track gained its second Cup schedule date in 1997 after Bahre and Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., purchased North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina and gave New Hampshire one of its Cup dates.

In 2008, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. purchased the track from the Bahre family for $340 million. That is when the track’s name was changed from New Hampshire International Speedway to the NHMS name it holds today.

Over the 19 years of its existence, New Hampshire has played host to some of the most memorable and tragic events in NASCAR.

The inaugural race, which Wallace won, was the final race for Davey Allison who perished in a helicopter crash the following day.

In 1996, Ernie Irvan earned his first Cup victory after his near fatal wreck at Michigan International Speedway almost two years earlier.

2000 was a year that NHMS and the sport of NASCAR will never forget. The track had two deaths that year, Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin Jr. Then in 2001, the fall race at the track was scheduled for September 16th but after the terrorist attacks, NASCAR decided to reschedule the event at the end of the season. Robby Gordon got his first career Sprint Cup Series victory in that race.

An incident involving Dale Jarrett during the fall race in 2003 resulted in the “lucky dog” award after NASCAR banned drivers from racing to the caution flag.

Since 2004, The Chase for the Sprint Cup has begun at New Hampshire which has made for some great races and even better finishes.

This young track still has a lot of years left and it promises to be an exciting stop on the NASCAR schedule.

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