Kentucky Speedway

Kentucky Speedway opened in 2000 as a 1.5-mile asphalt tri-oval in Sparta, Kentucky, and hosted Xfinity and Truck Series racing through its first decade. The track joined the Cup Series schedule in 2011 after years of legal and political effort to secure a Cup date, becoming one of the newer additions of the early 2010s. Kentucky hosted Cup competition every season from 2011 through 2020 before falling off the schedule entirely in the pandemic-era schedule realignment. The track was bumpy in spots and rewarded committed drivers willing to attack the dragstrip-flat front straight and the variable-banking turns. Brad Keselowski dominated Kentucky during its Cup tenure, winning four times in ten years. The track is currently inactive, with NASCAR controlling the property but no announced plans to return.