Because so many think that all ovals are alike, and after seeing a tweet about a circular track I thought I would list some of the general and unusual shapes seen in oval tracks worldwide. Ovals vary in banking as well as shape. Let's take a look at some of these shapes.

The Paperclip:
These tracks tend to be long straights with tight, flat corners. Martinsville is the most obvious example of this. It differs from a "standard" oval by having much tighter corners needing harder braking. High-banked tracks aren't paperclips due to less braking.

The Bullring:
There isn't a clear definition as it can refer to any short track, especially one that is narrow or has very short straights. Some small ovals have corners that are longer than the straight sections. Passing is difficult here and contact is expected.

D-Shaped
An oval of any size can have a D shape. This is a longer, curved front section, and a straight backstretch. This is because it often gives spectators a better view of the track. Richmond is a 3/4 mile D track, and Las Vegas is twice that size, a 1-1/2 mile D track.

"Quad"
This is a variation on the D shape but has two kinks on the front straight as opposed to the single curve. A lot of the tracks from the 90s oval boom in the US followed this design, first seen at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Triangle, or how many corners does Pocono have?
There have been a couple of triangular ovals with Pocono being the most well-known but the short-lived Walt Disney World Speedway was a 1-mile triangle, as was Nazareth Speedway. Concord was a 1/2-mile triangle.

Rectangular
The most famous is Indianapolis (and the original configuration for Homestead). There are four distinct corners with two long main straights and two short "chutes" between the first two and last two turns.

Trapezoid
Similar to the rectangular layout but the corners on these tracks are of different sizes and banking. The two best examples are the short-lived oval at Rio and Rockingham Motor Speedway in the UK which featured four different corners and four different straights.

Now we've covered the most common shapes of ovals, we can have a look at a few of the more unusual shapes that have existed.

Square.
Flemington Speedway in New Jersey was built as a square. Four equal corners and four equal straights. The 5/8 mile track, now closed, was host to the Nascar Truck series from 1995 until 1998.

Circular
Yes, there was a circular track! Langhorne speedway.  This one-mile track was famous for both being a circle and also for being very dangerous. It was one of the few tracks anywhere in the world to scare drivers.
https://www.autoweek.com/racing/a1688031/killing-field-myth-legend-langhorne-speedway/

Kidney
When might you turn right on an oval? When you were racing at Trenton! This track had a usual right-hand kink added when the track was extended to 1-1/2 miles. It sounds very weird, doesn't it? It begs the question of when does an oval stop being an oval.

Spoon
If you say "oval track" to a German you end up with the Almaring in Gelsenkirchen. This track, now disused and overgrown is hard to describe as an oval. I think at this point we've gone beyond what counts as an oval. It's just, well, odd. Is it an oval? You can decide

The differences in oval race tracks

2023 Schedules have been published for @NASCAR 3 top series. Each features a mix of short and long ovals, dirt, road courses and a street circuit. Overall, they are decent with a few changes as well as many well-known venues returning.

Cup schedule:
Good to see the Clash back in LA, and North Wilkesboro making it onto the schedule. This series now has one of the most diverse in motorsports features ovals, short tracks, dirt, road, and street courses.
https://twitter.com/bobpockrass/status/1570125917250265088

If they don't use the oval at Indianapolis, they should go to IRP instead. The road course is better since the redesign but there is just something about Indy that says "oval". It's all tied to the history of the venue and the Indy 500. 
The street race in Chicago is new as well.

This schedule is a lot more diverse than it was a decade ago. They've really shaken things up and could probably do so again. There is a good mix of circuit types and changing it around every so often keeps the drivers and teams on their toes and stops them becoming complacent.

Xfinity (this series needs a better name)
8 road courses and only one trip to Talladega, that's good. Another decent schedule but why is this series not running on dirt? It's the only one that doesn't and could really do with a dirt race in the schedule.
https://twitter.com/bobpockrass/status/1570126043029143557

Trucks
They've lost one dirt race (why?) and could do with another road course, especially Mosport (or even Circuit Giles Villeneuve). It's great to see IRP on the schedule. The racing there was always good when the Xfinity used to visit. 
https://twitter.com/bobpockrass/status/1570126136063168512

2023 Nascar Schedules

Starting next month is the @racingmentor Sponsorship Success Academy. This is an opportunity to learn what drives motorsports sponsorship and how to position yourself to capture the interest of companies. 
https://buff.ly/3dmr77V

The course leader, Jess, has been in the industry herself and successfully ran her own team Porsche team: Turn Eight Racing.
Myself, I learnt a lot last year about my niche, how to approach companies about my racing and what benefits they would see. 
https://racingmentor.podia.com/6d5bf343-4caf-4de1-97b3-136087b3c00c/plbf1


There are different levels available depending on your budget and whether you wish for self-paced learning or live sessions. If you opt for the Plus package, you also get 1:1 support as well as enrolment into the following year's course. 
https://racingmentor.podia.com/a2757c69-e0b2-45bf-a6f5-4a203f0801c3/plbf1

This means you'll keep learning for longer and going further on your sponsorship journey. 
The course is two 90 minutes sessions per week along with homework club and assignments. Yes, there is homework! But how else will you learn unless you put everything into practice? 


Racing Mentor Sponsorship Academy 2022

Catching up from this weekend's 12 Hours of Sebring @sebringraceway on @iracing I had a lot of fun and learnt a lot about running an endurance race. We ran in the LMP2 class and managed an 8th place finish (out of 22) in the fourth split. #Sebring12Hours 1/7

Keeping an eye on strategy is crucial. We had someone constantly running the numbers for us but we still made a mistake somewhere. Our fuel numbers were pretty good and we changed pace in the second half to avoid an extra stop but we were out on our tyre strategy, I think. 2/7

Speaking of tyres, looking after them! Every time you scrub or slide the tyres, they heat up and lose grip. This just gets worse and worse and increases wear. I managed to get a good pace and good wear. I felt I could have run a fourth stint on the same set of tyres. 3/7

A multi-class endurance race requires a good deal of patience and calmness. Don't expect the GT cars to do what you expect and don't force an issue. Two cars side by side are slower than following each other. Know where you can pass, where you can't and where you are faster 4/7

Don't Panic! It's likely you will be accidents, from you or others. When that happens, focus on saving the car and losing the corner. Don't slam the brakes, and don't jerk at the wheel. Remember the tyres and slowly nurse the car back on course.  5/7

You will lose time, be it traffic, accidents, being pushed off, or in the pit cycles. The goal here is to minimise time lost and to be there at the end. It doesn't matter if you're breaking the lap record if you are finishing several laps down. 
Relax and enjoy the racing! 6/7

Thanks to @JeffMaconi @JoeyMasiewicz for letting me run with them in the @MaconiSetupShop @YourWearYourWay @AbruzziUSA Dallara LMP2 with @kurzdigital on the side.
#simracing #sebring12hours #iracing
7/7

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/gordonjbarnes/4Ggt5aK

The differences in oval race tracks

2023 Nascar Schedules

Racing Mentor Sponsorship Academy 2022

iRacing Sebring 12 Hours 2022