Charlotte Motor Speedway lights up for season

Speedway Christmas features 3 million holiday lights and 800 displays throughout the 3.1 mile light park.

Posted 5:35 p.m. Nov 26, 2014 — Updated 5:35 p.m. Nov 26, 2014

I've written about the regional Christmas light displays here. And readers reminded me that Tanglewood Park in Clemmons near Winston-Salem, where I once was a newspaper reporter ages ago, has a wonderful display.

Here's another one to add to the list: For the fifth year, Charlotte Motor Speedway offers its Speedway Christmas.

This year, the event, which opened last weekend and runs through Dec. 30, features 3 million holiday lights and 800 displays throughout the 3.1 mile light park. Visitors drive nearly one mile on the speedway's frontstretch, which has 200,000 feet of animated LED lights dancing in the grandstands above, according to a press release.

As part of your ticket, you also can visit the Christmas Village on some nights for horse-drawn carriage and camel rides, marshmallow roasting and other fun. Some nights, the speedway also will feature holiday classics playing on the giant HDTV for a drive-in movie experience.

Admission is $20 per car, $50 per van (no more than 36 people), and $175 per bus (no more than 57 people) when the Christmas Village is open from Thursday to Sunday. Admission into Speedway Christmas is $15 per car, $40 per van (no more than 36 people), and $140 per bus (no more than 57 people) when the Christmas Village is closed from Monday to Wednesday.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is about 2.5 hours from Raleigh.

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