NASCAR Might Race At An Ivy League School
From bootlegging to business school?
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell told the Pocono Record that the series has considered holding a race at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field stadium in Philadelphia Well, not at, but in.
“Pocono [Raceway] has delivered for us in terms of fans, but when you look at opportunities, one of the places we looked was Franklin Field,” O’Donnell said. “It was one of the only places we could’ve put a race track inside. Those are the type of things that, within a city, we’re gonna look at.
It’s the same concept that led to the season-opening Clash at the L.A. Coliseum, which was held on a temporary quarter-mile asphalt track built inside of the iconic stadium for three years from 2022 to 2024.
Franklin Field has around 52,000 seats and is really the only other high capacity stadium in the U.S. with an infield large enough to accommodate a quarter-mile track. Most are only big enough for a football or soccer field, both of which can fit inside of a regulation 400-meter running track.
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A quarter-mile track isn’t large enough for a full 36-car NASCAR Cup Series field, however, which is why NASCAR held the 23-car Clash in L.A instead of a points race. The weather in Philadelphia is probably too risky in February when The Clash is scheduled, and the only other non-points race is the All-Star Race in May.
O’Donnell didn’t elaborate as to wether or not the venue is still under consideration, but did say that more races near urban centers are in the cards.
“The days of just building a rural track are over, but if we can build a track with some real estate development around it and partner with some people, we’re gonna look at major cities and bring the product to the fan base within the city as well.” O’Donnell said.
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There were reports this week that NASCAR is in talks with San Diego to hold a street race in 2026, but they have not been confirmed by NASCAR. New York City remains the big prize. Pocono is about two hours away, as is Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park where the Truck Series will be racing for the first time on June 28 this year.
NASCAR attempted to bring an 82,000-seat track to Staten Island in the mid-2000s when race attendance was high, but the project met with local opposition and the planned location has since been developed into an industrial park.
NASCAR did race inside of a stadium this year, however, as the Clash was held at Winston-Salem’s Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina. The 18,000-seat stadium has a permanent paved quarter-mile track around a football field that’s still used by the Winston-Salem State Rams when the cars aren’t there.