Menu
Events and Attractions

Speedway would make drag strip home to X Games if they come to Charlotte

Charlotte Motor Speedway, which last month was named one of four finalists for the X Games, plans to host the event at zMax Dragway, the facility’s 30,000-seat drag strip, should it win the right to host the event.

Renderings shows the layout for X Games events inside the 30,000-seat zMax Dragway.
Photo by: CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Charlotte is bidding against sites in Chicago, Detroit and Austin, Texas. ESPN is expected to announced the winning bid in June or July for the X Games, which are scheduled to be held in the same city from 2014 to 2016.

CMS President Marcus Smith said that placing the event at the dragway would allow spectators to have a better vantage point for the X Games’ different competitions. Everything from street skate to big air to motocross would be featured inside the venue.

“The way we’ve gotten scale drawings of everything that’s part of the Games and the way our designers have laid it out makes it possible to host everything right there between the grandstands,” Smith said. “And with the dirt track right next door, that would make the perfect location for a rally course.”

Smith said the racetrack would sell tickets for the X Games if it won the right to host the event. The summer X Games have been held in Los Angeles since 2003.

“Having the X Games in a venue like zMax Dragway puts the entire Games on a platform so much higher than they’ve ever been on before in a much more fan-friendly way that can’t be matched by anything else,” he added. “When you factor in all the folks that want to see the X Games, in a temporary setup you can’t make an accommodation for fans to be that close with that many facilities. We’ve got restrooms and parking and camping. It will take that kind of facility to really to bring the best fan experience to the X Games.”

— Tripp Mickle

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2013/05/13/Events-and-Attractions/X-Games-Charlotte.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2013/05/13/Events-and-Attractions/X-Games-Charlotte.aspx

CLOSE