Circle K Speed Street opens Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway

CONCORD, N.C. (WBTV) - For years uptown Charlotte came alive every May with food vendors, live music and more as part of Circle K Speed Street. Now that festival dedicated to NASCAR and the Coca-Cola 600 has moved from Charlotte to Concord at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“COVID and the pandemic kind of gave us all in so many ways an opportunity to kind of look back and reset and say is there something different that we should try? When it came to Speed Street we realized we were really putting a lot of our race fans in a spot where they had to choose do I take in an activity at the track, or do I take in an activity of coming downtown, so this is an opportunity now for us to really program that journey of the fan so it’s like a one stop shop,” said Scott Cooper of Charlotte Motor Speedway. “They can do everything in one place and not have to make that choice over what they want for their entertainment, so we’re going to tie-in Speed Street at the speedway in conjunction with all the racing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

There will be a lot of vendors selling food, souvenirs from all the race teams, interactive displays, and the concert stage which will host acts like the Steve Miller Band and hip-hop artist Flo Rida.

Cooper said moving Speed Street to the track is going to be more convenient for race fans, easier for parking, and certainly more convenient for the thousands of folks camping in and around the speedway.

“We’ve got plenty of space to park and that was another part that kind of came into the equation that we worked with the 600 Festival and our regional supporters to try to figure out the best way to do this,” Cooper added. “So, we’re going to give this a shot this year and see how Circle K Speed Street works out at the track, hopefully make it more convenient for everybody to park, and also convenient for our campers, so it’s a great opportunity for our campers to be able to come over and take advantage.”

It will be open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Fans can buy a ticket just for Speed Street for $20, or if you have a ticket to any race this weekend, that is also your ticket for Speed Street.

Governor Cooper also visited Concord on Thursday to see the Circle K Speed Street layout.

“We’re excited about the speedway having, it’s been here since 1960, and we’re still energetic about everything they’re doing out here, we also understand that they have a sold out crowd this year, which is just really fantastic after what we’ve all been through,” said Concord Mayor Bill Dusch.

You can see the full schedule for Circle K Speed Street here.

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