(formerly ''Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex'') is a race track in
Homestead, Florida , USA, southwest of
Miami . It plays host to the
Ford Championship Weekend , hosting the final races of the year in the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup ,
Busch Series , and the
Craftsman Truck Series . These races are currently all sponsored by
Ford Motors , taking the names
Ford 400 ,
Ford 300 , and
Ford 200 , respectively.
The speedway was constructed, with the efforts of promotor Ralph Sanchez, as part of a plan to help
Homestead rebound after the devastation wreacked by
Hurricane Andrew . Groundbreaking began
August 24 ,
1993 , less than a year after the hurricane. It opened in November
1995 with a
NASCAR Busch Series race. In the spring of 1996, the
CART series held its first race there.
The facility is considered by some to be one of the most beautiful in the country. The track reflects the art deco district of downtown
Miami with its liberal use of colors such as aqua, purple and silver, among other colors.
However, the racing at Homestead was initially not considered very good. The track opened as a four-turn, rectangular-oval, based on the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway 's layout. The sharp, flat turns and aprons made passing difficult and lowered overall speed. The geometrey also created unfavorably severe crash angles. In 1996, track management attempted to correct the problems by wideing the aprons of the turns by as much as 24 feet. In the summer of
1997 , an
$ 8.2 million reconfiguration project changed the turns from a quad-oval to a traditional, continuous turn oval.
In 2003, the track was reconfigured once again. The turns were changed from mostly flat to steep variable banking. Shortly afterwards, lights were installed to allow night racing for the first time. The renovations were praised by fans, and the track has produced a number of close finishes, including
2005's last-lap battle between
Greg Biffle and
Mark Martin .
On
March 26 ,
2006 however,
Indy Racing League driver
Paul Dana suffered fatal injuries in the warm-up session before the season-opening round of the championship. He was involved in a high-speed collision, with
Ed Carpenter at over 215 mph. His death is the first in the
Indy Racing League since
Tony Renna died at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
October 2003 , and only the 3rd ever since the series started. He also is the only other driver to suffer fatal injuries at the speedway since
John Nemechek , and Jeff Clinton who died in a Grand Am sports car event at the track in March 2002
