NASCAR races at several tracks every year and no two are the same. Safety is affected by the banking of a track, that is, the steepness built into it. Steep banks allow cars to go faster, especially around the corners. Banking degrees range from zero, on road courses, to 33 degrees on oval tracks. Here’s a brief look at the top five tracks with the steepest banking in the current schedule.
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5. Darlington Raceway – The Lady in Black is one of the most challenging avenues in NASCAR and has been in use since the 1950s. It was the first paved track in the sport and features 23-25 degrees of banking in its turns. The overall length of the track is 1.366 miles. Its unique egg-shaped layout poses a dangerous threat to drivers every time they race there.
4. Atlanta Motor Speedway – The 1.54-mile quad-oval that is situated 25 miles south of Atlanta has been a staple presence in NASCAR since 1960. It features 28-degree banks on turns and five-degree banks on the straights. Before being re-paved in 2021 to suit a newer generation of racing, it had banks of 24 degrees. The track is a unique oval that produces superspeedway-style racing.
3. Bristol Motor Speedway – This 0.53-mile concrete oval is known as “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile” without reason. Its corner bankings range from 24 to 28 degrees and are shouldered by 650-foot straightaways. Such steepness with relatively short straights makes navigating the track a tough challenge. The concrete track is a fan favorite for this very same reason.
2. Daytona International Speedway – The world of NASCAR centers around this 2.5-mile tri-oval. NASCAR races have been held here since 1959 and it is the host of the renowned Daytona 500. What makes this track appealing are the 31-degree banking on the corners and the 18-degree banks on the tri-oval. Put this steepness together with a track width of 40 feet and an extremely difficult challenge emerges.
1. Talladega Superspeedway – The Dega naturally takes the top spot. This 2.6-mile superspeedway is known plenty for the high-speed crashes it induces. The course has 33 degrees of banking in its turns, 16.5 degrees of banking in the tri-oval section, and two degrees of banking in the straights. A wild saying that might as well be a solid fact is that nobody can control the racing in Talladega.
Interestingly, banking degrees aren’t as simple as being uniform throughout a race track or even the corners on some tracks. For example, the Kansas Speedway has variable banking. Its bottom lane is banked at 17 degrees and increases gradually until 20 degrees against the wall. This makes tracks that aren’t on this list equally complex as the ones that are.
