Richmond International Raceway (RIR)
is a A 3/4 mile (1.2 km), D shaped, asphalt race track located just
outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Nextel
Cup, Busch Series and the Featherlite Modified Series. RIR also hosts
the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, and the United States Auto Club
Silver Crown Series.
Richmond International Raceway is located at the Richmond Raceway
Complex, which is an 800 acre (3.2 kmē), multi-purpose facility.
Richmond Raceway Complex also hosts the Virginia Golf Show, Bassarama,
Richmond Home and Garden Show, RV and Camping Expo, Richmond Boat Show,
Richmond Classic Sports Card Show, East Coast Sawmill and Logging
Equipment Expo, Craftsmen Classic Spring and Christmas Shows, Bizarre
Bazaar Spring and Christmas Shows and other various arts and craft
events.
Outdoor festivals hosted by Richmond Raceway Complex in 2004 included
the Virginia State Fair, Richmond Highland Games & Celtic Festival,
March of Dimes Bikers for Babies, K95 Country Music Festival, [1] 102.1
The X], ACCA Temple Pork Festival, the VA Food Festival and concerts
featuring local and national recording artists.
The former name for RIR was Strawberry Hill until RIR bought out the
Virginia State Fairgounds in 1999. The races at Strawberry Hill are
still held the third Saturday of April at the Richmond Raceway Complex,
although some have suggested the event could eventually be moved to
Colonial Downs.
The track operated as a 0.5
mile oval through the spring race of 1988. During the spring and summer
of 1988, the track was reconfigured to its current layout of 0.75 miles.
The first race under the new configuration was in September 1988. Lights
were added for the fall 1991 race.
The track was previously called Richmond Fairgrounds Speedway and the
annual fair made the track a popular venue.
Richard Petty holds the record of most wins at Richmond with 13
victories, Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace are tied with six.
Richmond is the site of the famous battle between Dale Earnhardt and
Darrell Waltrip in 1986. Earnhardt tapped Waltrip in turn 4 and both
drivers hit the wall, handing the win to none other than Kyle Petty who
avoided the crash and won.
In
2001 to 2002, the fall event was sponsored the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400
presented by the Looney Tunes and in 2003, the event was renamed the
Chevy Rock and Roll 400.
Until
2005, RIR was home to a fall Craftsman Truck Series race. Starting with
the 2006 schedule, that date was transferred to Talladega Superspeedway.