Over the years, several of the NASCAR tracks have been repaved, including the Bristol Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, among others. The NASCAR legend Richard Petty broke the silence on how he wants an iconic track not to undergo repaving. 

The “King” talked about the Coca-Cola 600 that took place on Sunday on his podcast, Petty Family Racing, along with Dale Inman. He answered a few questions, one of them being whether the Charlotte Motor Speedway needs to be repaved again.  

“No, I don't think they need to repave it," he stated. "It doesn't make any difference how bumpy it is. Everybody’s got to run on the same circumstances. Just because you make it any smoother, who does that help, and why does that help? But brand new race tracks are really noted for being one groove race tracks.”

The Charlotte Motor Speedway was last paved before the 2006 season.

The track has a D-shaped configuration highlighted by a dogleg along the 1,980-foot frontstretch. Each of the four corners carries 24 degrees of banking, while both the frontstretch and the 1,500-foot backstretch are banked at 5 degrees.

“Charlotte's been there long enough now that it's a four- to five-groove race track," he further added. "You run all over the track. To me, that's the way it needs to be.” 

During the two races held at the 1.5-mile oval in 2005, the event saw a combined 37 caution flags. The Coca-Cola 600 also saw 22 red flags during the race. 

Several other tracks repaved by NASCAR were met with criticism following the changes. One of the latest examples is the Texas Motor Speedway, which was repaved in 2017 by SMI. They tried to improve the turns one and two banking. This resulted in a single groove track. 

Time and again, several efforts have been made to stop Charlotte Motor Speedway from meeting the same fate. This is not the first time Petty has advocated for the track. 

Richard Petty Advocates for Taking the All-Star Back to Charlotte

While sharing his thoughts about the All-Star race at Dover, Petty was not impressed with the event. He pointed out how the event needs to be taken away from Dover Motor Speedway to Charlotte Motor Speedway. 

“To me, it just didn’t feel like an All-Star Race," he said. "It was just another race that they just went at it a little bit different.”

The NASCAR All-Star Race has been held at tracks such as Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2025. Still, Dover Motor Speedway failed to leave much of an impression on Petty.

“And I don’t think anybody got even when they announced the All-Star race being in Dover, I don’t think anybody really got that excited," he shared. "I guess, all in all, they need to probably take it back to Charlotte and just let it go from there.”

Before being moved to Dover Motor Speedway, the All-Star races were hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway from 1985 and 1987 to 2019.

Implementing Richard Petty’s recommendation would require NASCAR to stage back-to-back events at Charlotte Motor Speedway, given that the Coca-Cola 600 follows the All-Star Race by just one week.

Share your thoughts on Petty's take on Charlotte.

Read more at Daytona Racing Digest.

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar