What Are The NASCAR Track Lap Records?

Motor junkies live for motorsport racing, and NASCAR is the type of sport that can make them crazy. The thrill of cars going around the track at speeds that can make your head spin kind of makes a person wonder: “ How fast can a NASCAR go?” we will answer this question in this article.

NASCAR cars can go faster than 200 miles per hour. The fastest recorded time for a Nascar vehicle is 212.809 miles per hour. That speed was clocked at Talladega superspeedway in 1987 during a qualifying round. The driver was Bill Elliot, and he was driving a Ford Thunderbird stock car.

The fastest official speed is still Bill Elliott’s lap at Talladega of 212 miles an hour. It still remains the fastest recorded speed because the previous generation (Gen 6) NASCAR cars had plates installed to limit their speed for safety reasons. It is safe to assume that the current NASCAR cars would go much faster if they were not limited, especially at the superspeedways of Talladega and Daytona.

In this article about Nascar, we will explore the topic of how fast a Nascar has gone on the different tracks.

 

How Fast Can A Nascar Go?

The fastest recorded time for a NASCAR racecar is 212.809 miles per hour. We will use the historical data and NASCAR speed records in this post section. The best way to get all this information over is with the use of a table. This table includes the circuit, the date of the event, the name of the driver, How fast the NASCAR was going, and the qualifying lap time.

We have included both road and oval race tracks here, and although short tracks encourage less speed, they are quicker to complete a lap due to distance.

Date (D,M,Y)	Circuit	Driver	Time(sec)	How fast did the NASCAR go?
15/11/1997	Atlanta Motor Speedway	G.Bodine	28.074	197.478 Miles per hour
16/03/2018	Auto Club Speedway	K.Harvick	38.147	188.744 Miles per hour
05/04/2019	Bristol Motor Speedway	R.Blaney	14.528	132.076 Miles per hour
09/10/2014	Charlotte Motor Speedway	K.Busch	27.167	198.771 Miles per hour
13/09/2013	Chicagoland Speedway	J.Logano	28.509	189.404 Miles per hour
11/04/2014	Darlington Raceway	A.Almirola	26.705	184.145 Miles per hour
09/02/1987	Daytona International Speedway	B.Elliot	42.783	210.364 Miles per hour
03/05/2019	Dover International Speedway	C.Elliot	21.692	165.960 Miles per hour
14/11/2014	Homestead-Miami Speedway	B.Keselowski	29.795	181.238 Miles per hour
26/07/2014	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	K.Harvick	47.647	188.889 Miles per hour
13/11/2015	ISM Raceway	J.Johnson	25.147	143.158 Miles per hour
03/10/2014	Kansas Speedway	K.Harvick	27.304	197.773 Miles per hour
07/07/2017	Kentucky Speedway	K.Busch	28.379	190.282 Miles per hour
04/03/2016	Las VegasMotor Speedway	K.Busch	27.498	196.378 Miles per hour
28/03/2014	Martinsville Speedway	J.Logano	18.898	100.201 Miles per hour
15/08/2014	Michigan International Raceway	J.Gordon	34.857	206.558 Miles per hour
19/09/2014	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	B.Keselowski	27.09	140.598 Miles per hour
01/08/2014	Pocono Raceway	K.Larson	49.063	183.438 Miles per hour
06/09/2013	Richmond Raceway	J.Gordon	20.674	130.599 Miles per hour
22/06/2019	Sonoma Raceway	K.Larson	94.598	95.901 Miles per hour
30/04/1987	Talladega Super Speedway	B.Elliot	44.998	212.809 Miles per hour
03/11/2017	Texas Motor Speedway	K.Busch	26.877	200.915 Miles per hour
09/08/2014	Watkins Glen International	M.Ambrose	68.113	129.491 Miles per hour

It is evident from this table that NASCAR cars can reach speeds well over 200 miles per hour. Interestingly, on some circuits, the speed was not as fast, but it makes sense that some circuits would not have as many long straights for the vehicles to go as fast as on other circuits. Cornering reduces speed and the more corners the less speed.

Road course are not also full of corners, they also tend to be longer than most ovals.

How Fast Were The First NASCAR Cars?

Which NASCAR Cars and Drivers have Gone Over 200 miles an Hour.

It has been established so far that NASCAR Cars can go as fast as 212.809 miles per hour, or 228 miles an hour if unrestricted. What needs to be established now is which cars were able to reach these speeds.

In this part of the post, 8 vehicles will be listed that managed to break the 195 miles per hour mark. Whether these lists will expand depends on what happens when the Next Gen NASCAR starts to perform at tracks like Daytona and Talladega.

Date	Track	Driver	Car	Speed
11/03/2017	Texas Motor Speedway	K.Busch	Toyota Camry	200.915 Miles per hour
04/30/1987	Talladega Super Speedway	B.Elliot	Ford Thunderbird	212.809 Miles per hour
08/15/2014	Michigan International	J.Gordon	Chevrolet	206 Miles an Hour
03/04/2016	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	K. Busch	Toyota	196.378 Miles an hour
10/04/2014	Kansas Speedway	K.Harvick	Chevrolet	197.3 Miles an hour
02/09/1987	Daytona Int Speedway	B.Elliott	Ford thunderbird	210.4 miles an hour
10/09/2014	Charlotte Motor Speedway	K.Busch	Toyota	198.7 Miles an hour
11/15/1997	Atlanta Motor Speedway	G.Bodine	Ford	197.4 Miles an hour

This comparison of the 8 fastest cars in NASCAR proves that all manufacturers have managed to break the 195 miles per hour mark more than once. This shows how similar, in performance at least, these cars actually are. There are only currently three OEM in NASCAR, although the hope is that the Next gen car will open up the way for more manufactures to join the sport over the coming years.

Nascar Brand	Ford	Toyota	Chevrolet
How many times did this Nascar go faster than 195 Mph	3 times	3 times	2 times

Who would have guessed that Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet were so evenly matched by having two or more records for the fastest qualifying laps? It shows the caliber of drivers and vehicles that this sport has.

The Gen 6 NASCAR and Lap Records

Since the introduction of the Generation 6 iteration of NASCAR racers there has been a steady increase in speed. Where as top speeds may have been tempered at the Superspeedway liek Daytona Tallagega, as was the intention, speeds at other tracks increased.

To the point where 16 of the 23 tracks saw new lap records set my the gen 6 Nascar. You can read more about this in the link.

Differences Between A Next Gen Nascar And The Generation 6 Nascar

How Fast is the Next Gen NASCAR?

In testing the next gen car has been shown to be at the very least comparable to the gen 6 NASCAR and although this has been met with mixed opinions it should be remembered this is before teams have got their hands on the car.

Once NASCAR teams start making adjustments ( those they are allowed to) then we can expect speeds to increase over the course of the first full season of use. The first race at the Los Angeles Coliseum can not be used as a benchmark however! Its 0.25 miles long!

Conclusion

The cars that race in NASCAR are well-engineered machines that can reach speeds well over 200 miles per hour. Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet have cars that produced speeds over 195 miles per hour more than once. Hopefully more manufacturers will be dipping their toe in soon!

NASCAR racing is about much more than just how fast the car can go of course, but speed is certainly one of the factors that draws millions of fans every year to cheer on their favourite drivers.

It is a sport that the whole family can enjoy. It is about the fans, and people appreciate when racing is family-friendly and as safe as possible for everyone involved.

Resources

https://theconversation.com/nascar-may-be-the-fastest-way-to-learn-about-physics-118641

https://www.sportscasting.com/how-fast-do-nascar-cars-go/

https://motorsporttickets.com/blog/nascar-for-beginners-get-up-to-speed-on-the-epic-racing-series/#:~:text=The%20average%20top%20speed%20of,380km%2Fh%20(236mph).