The 1.5 mile D-shaped oval of Kansas Speedway brings NASCAR racing to America’s heartland two times a year. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visits the track in the spring, while the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series come in the fall.

The idea to put another track in the Midwest started forming in 1996. The International Speedway Corporation (ISC) began toying with the idea and the following year decided that Kansas City, K.S. would be the perfect place.

Facility construction began in May 1999 and multiple NASCAR personalities and Kansas government officials converged at the intersection of two highways to take part in the groundbreaking festivities.

The track began selling tickets in the summer of that year with the introduction of the Founding Fan P.A.S.S. (Preferred Access Speedway Seating) which gave fans the opportunity to lock-in the best seats available and allowed them access to other special offers. Former Kansas City Royals player George Brett purchased the track’s first P.A.S.S. The 32 luxury suites at the facility sold out in only one day, obviously the Midwest was excited to have a new NASCAR track.

The track was paved beginning in September 2000 and the construction was completely finished in early 2001, just in time for the first test session in April. Teams from the ARCA RE/MAX and Dayton Indy Lights Championship series participated in the test and Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman reached speeds beyond 170mph in his ARCA car that weekend.

The NASCAR Winston West (now Camping World West) Series and the ARCA RE/MAX Series were the first to compete on the new track in June of 2001. The Craftsman (now Camping World) Truck Series, CART and IRL came in July, followed by the NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) and Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) Series in September.

Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Cup race at Kansas on September 30, 2001 in front of a sold-out crowd.

Currently, Jason Leffler holds the Sprint Cup qualifying record at the track with a speed of 176.499mph.

The speed and excitement of the on-track action at Kansas Speedway and the sell-out crowds proves that the idea to build a new facility in the Midwest was so good you could almost call it clairvoyant.

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