Nearby places

How these places fit together during race week

The venues on this list fall into two clear clusters, and knowing which is which makes planning a race-week trip far easier. The Concord cluster sits along the I-85 corridor north-east of Charlotte: Charlotte Motor Speedway, zMAX Dragway and Concord Mills are close neighbours, so on a quiet day you can move between them in minutes. On a major race weekend that changes. Traffic around the speedway builds for hours before green flag and lingers long after the checkered flag, and the shopping and restaurant area around Concord Mills fills with fans looking for food, fuel and a place to wait out the jams.

The Charlotte cluster is in and around Uptown. The NASCAR Hall of Fame, Spectrum Center and Bank of America Stadium are all within walking distance of each other, which makes Uptown a practical base if you want museums, dining and nightlife between track days. Bojangles Coliseum lies a short drive east of the centre, and PNC Music Pavilion is out in the University City area to the north-east, closer to Concord than Uptown is.

Practical tips for combining visits

• Give the track its own day. Trying to squeeze a museum visit or a concert into the same day as a race usually means rushing one or the other.
• Use the Hall of Fame as a rest-day option. It suits arrival days, rain delays or the day after a late finish, and it gives newer fans useful background on the sport.
• Check event calendars for clashes. A concert, basketball game or football fixture in Charlotte on the same weekend as a race can tighten hotel availability and parking across the region.
• Plan parking and pick-up points in advance. Rideshare zones and lots are set by each venue and can change for big events, so confirm details on official venue sites before you travel.
• Allow extra time on I-85. It links both clusters and is the route most visitors rely on, so expect it to be busiest exactly when you want to use it.

For more help building an itinerary, see our Plan Your Visit guide, and browse the race events page to see what kind of activities usually fill the week around the track.