My Driver was wrong about Charlotte, North Carolina

When we arrived to Charlotte I asked the driver what there was to see in and around Charlotte. He thought for a moment and said Bars and Clubs. Probably not the greatest ambassador for Charlotte. After spending some time in this great city, I would definitely give it thumbs up. By the way, the official Tourism website is trying to change the “driver’s mentality”, find out more by going to www.charlottesgotalot.com


My Black Book pick…. Joe Gibbs Racing Facility, if you can get a private tour. I was mesmerized by the facility, workers, cars and setup. Again, because I was able to walk the floors with an insider and see how the cars are assembled from scratch, it made all the difference. www.joegibbsracing.com


Lowes Motor Speedway, formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway is an amazing experience. A few ways to experience it….

Feel the Thrill Tour includes a close-up look at areas that are off-limits on race days. Visit the Sprint Cup garage, travel down pit road and take a picture in Victory Circle. The highlight of this half-hour tour is a comfortable van ride around the superspeedway where you will feel the full-tilt force of the 24-degree banking. Feel The Thrill Tours are available on non-event days Monday through Saturday 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and Sunday 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Lowe's Motor Speedway hosts six companies that conduct driving schools at the speedway.

Ride-a-longs are also available courtesy of The Richard Petty Driving Experience on days following Sprint Cup race events. Feel the thrill of three laps at speeds of more than 160 mph on the world-famous Lowe's Motor Speedway during your race weekend.

Superspeedway Track Facts
• Length: 1.5 miles or 7, 920 feet
• Frontstretch: 1,980 feet
• Backstretch: 1,500 feet
• Turns 1 & 2: 2,400 feet
• Turns 3 & 4: 2,040
• Radius Turns 1 & 2: 685 feet
• Radius Turns 3 & 4: 625 feet
• Banking in corners: 24-degrees
• Banking is straightaways: 5-degrees
• Seating capacity: 140,000
• Suites: 113
Fun Facts
• There are more than 100 flagpoles located throughout the speedway property.
• The speedway has more than 1,200 toilets on property for it's fans.
• Nearly 1,500 trash cans are placed throughout speedway property to collect the 400 tons of trash that will be generated during a NASCAR event weekend.
• Three 30-foot truckloads of paper products (paper towels/toilet paper) will be used at race time.
• Lowe's Motor Speedway ground crews use 17 tractors and 11 lawn mowers to keep the speedway's nearly 2,000 acres manicured.
• On Coca-Cola 600 race day, the nearly 180,000 people at Lowe's Motor Speedway make it the fourth largest city in North Carolina behind Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro.
• The land Lowe's Motor Speedway now occupies was the site of a working plantation during the Civil War.
• George Washington ate lunch and rested in a house that once served as the speedway's office.
• The small one-fifth-mile paved oval located outside the turn -three tunnel is known as "Outback Speedway," because it's located "outback."
• The inner perimeter road around Lowe's Motor Speedway is named in honor of three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip, a five-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600.