There’s just something about NASCAR going under the lights that makes everything so unique, and so much fun. A mystique seems to come along the minute the lights come on.
But the idea of seeing some of these larger tracks run at night about 20 years ago seemed like a crazy concept. For the most part, the tracks that held night races were the shorter speedways, like Bristol and Richmond. Even the sport’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600, was run during the daylight for many years.
But in 1992, then-Charlotte Motor Speedway President Humpy Wheeler decided to take a risk, and elected that he was going to add lights to his 1.5-mile speedway. Even the most loyal fans at the time, and even the best drivers, were questioning this idea. How would they do it, would it work, and how would the fans take it?
Wheeler found a company willing to take on the project, Musco Lighting, and the project began. By the fall of 1992, the speedway was equipped with lights that would allow the fans to see every bit of the track, but at the same time wouldn’t create a glare off the windshields of the cars that would effect their vision.
It was installed in time for the Winston, now called the All-Star Race, and was the first event held at night at a speedway of that size.
That night, history was made both on the track and off the track. The action in the event ended with Dale Earnhardt spinning in the third turn after contact with Kyle Petty, then seeing Davey Allison make the pass on the front straightaway to win the event and the $200,000 prize. It also saw Allison spin just past the finish line and slam driver-side first into the outside wall. Allison never made it to victory lane, as he was cut out of the car and taken to the hospital.
But, the fans simply didn’t leave. The crowd of over 100,000 people stood for over an hour after the checkered flag in disbelief at what they just witnessed.
That race was termed “One Hot Night,” and has since led the way to not only many other tracks electing to add lights to their speedway, but Musco Lighting to become the industry standard in speedway lighting.
Historical tracks such as Daytona and Darlington have installed lights and have seen some of their greatest moments since then. Saturday night, the Texas Motor Speedway hosted it’s first night race ever for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Usually in the fall, the race begins in the afternoon and then ends at night, as the track would transition based on the daylight. But, the lights were on for the entire distance of this race.
Why it was done…for the fans. There isn’t a fan out there that doesn’t enjoy night racing. Each car looks sharper, the speeds increase, and the action looks more intense.
Are there too many night races on the schedule? Not to me. As long as those fans continue to buy their seats and enjoy NASCAR’s version of a Saturday Night Shootout, then everything is just fine.
RESULTS: 1-Kenseth 2-Bowyer 3-Edwards 4-Biffle 5-Menard 6-Ambrose 7-Ragan 8-Johnson 9-Earnhardt Jr. 10-Kurt Busch
NOTABLE FINISHES: 12-Stewart 15-Hamlin 16-Kyle Busch 20-Harvick 23-J. Gordon 36-Martin
CAUTIONS: 5 for 24 laps. Lap 11-14 (Fluid on track), 47-51 (#34 accident-T1), 115-119 (Debris), 210-213 (Debris), 216-221 (#5, 56, 78 accident-BS).
LEAD CHANGES: 31 among 13 drivers. Ragan 1-10, Kurt Busch 11-14, Keselowski 15-46, Kurt Busch 47, R. Gordon 48, Blaney 49, Kenseth 50-51, Biffle 52-58, Kenseth 59-94, Bowyer 95, Edwards 96, Earnhardt Jr. 97-98, Kenseth 99-114, Ragan 115, Kurt Busch 116-123, Kenseth 124-162, Edwards 163-164, J. Gordon 165, Kenseth 166-199, Bowyer 200-204, Kenseth 205-213, Bowyer 214-248, Kenseth 249, Bowyer 250, Ambrose 251, Stewart 252-256, Kurt Busch 257-269, Stewart 270-276, Kenseth 277-294, Bowyer 295-296, Kurt Busch 297-320, Kenseth 321-324.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs, 21 Mins, 26 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 149.231 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 8.315 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS (Top-12): 1. Edwards, 256 points; 2. Kyle Busch, -9; 3. Kenseth, -13; 4. Johnson, -13; 5. Kurt Busch, -16; 6. Earnhardt Jr, -21; 7. Newman, -23; 8. Montoya, -24; 9. Harvick, -28; 10. Stewart, -43; 11. Menard, -47; 12. Bowyer, -55.