Dover International Speedway - Track History

Track History

In 1966, Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc. began construction on Dover Downs International Speedway, which was specialized for horse racing and auto racing. The race track was completed three years later, and would have its first race on July 6, 1969. The inaugural race, known as the Mason-Dixon 300, was won by Richard Petty.

During the 1971 racing season, the speedway removed all the events not sanctioned by NASCAR to help keep focus on the two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, which were 500 miles each. Eleven years later, Dover Downs International Speedway added a NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series (now Nationwide Series) event, the Sportsman 200. In 1986, the speedway added 3,200 seats to its 10,333 seat grandstand. Dover Downs International Speedway continued adding seats each year until 2001. A second Nationwide Series race was also added to the speedway's schedule during the 1986 season.

Eight years later, Delaware General Assembly passed legislation to allow slot machines at pari-mutuel horse racing venues. In 1995, Dover Downs International Speedway became the first NASCAR racing venue to be paved with concrete instead of asphalt. During the same year, Dover Downs slots opened on December 29. Two years later, the speedway changed the race distances of its Sprint Cup Series races to 400 miles, beginning with the 1997 fall race. In 1998, Dover Downs International Speedway added a IRL IndyCar Series event to the schedule, but after two seasons the race was removed after the 1999 season. During the 2000 racing season, Dover Downs International Speedway added a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (now Camping World Truck Series) event. Kurt Busch won the inaugural Truck Series race from the pole position.

In the following year, the speedway's capacity was expanded to 135,000 seats, the largest of any mid-Atlantic sport's stadium. After the gaming side of Dover Downs separated, Dover Motorsports, Inc. was created to operate the speedway, which caused the speedway to become Dover International Speedway in 2002. Two years later, the speedway announced the completion of the Monster Bridge, which is a glass-enclosed structure that has 56 seats over the third turn, and its fall Sprint Cup Series race became the second race in the newly formed, Chase for the Sprint Cup.

On May 26, 2006, Dover International Speedway announced a multi-year capital improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which would begin after the speedway's June Sprint Cup Series race. During the first stage of the improvement project in 2007, the speedway built a new 12-suite skybox complex and a new 2,100 square feet addition to the media center in the infield. Other improvements included widened walkways behind three grandstands, renovated restrooms, more paved handicapped parking areas, expanded bus parking, as well as a sound system with improved audio quality for the grandstands.

In 2008, the second stage of the "Monster Makeover" took place. During the stage, the Monster Monument, a 46-feet tall fiberglass structure, was built in the new Victory Plaza, the FanZone area was expanded, and an emergency services building was built. One year later, the speedway continued the improvement project by replacing the front stretch pit wall to insall a longer SAFER barrier wall that would make a wider and safer pit road, as well as an additional pit stall. On December 30, 2011, Dover International Speedway announced that they will replace the 18 inch wide seats in the grandstands with 22 inch wide ones, reducing the capacity from 140,000 to 113,000 over the next two years.