Winning a race is always an exciting event for a race car driver and his crew; but there is something special about winning the first race at any new track.
Over the past 21 new tracks that have run NASCAR races, there have been a few Cup Series drivers that have earned multiple races.
The most recent new track was this past weekend with races in the Xfinity and Cup Series at Autodromo Hermanas Rodriguez in Mexico City. A very excited Mexican born Daniel Suarez took home the trophy in the Xfinity Series race with New Zealand driver Shane van Gisbergen winning the Cup Series race in dominant fashion.
The 2025 Busch Light Clas was held at the iconic quarter mile track at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Last year NASCAR ran their first Cup Series at Iowa Speedway with Ryan Blaney winning the race.
In his first ever race on American soil, Shane van Gisbergen took to the rainy streets of Chicago for the first ever NASCAR Street Race on the streets of Chicago driving the special 91 car for Trackhouse Racing.
In 2022 the NASCAR Cup Series ran its first race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway with Joey Logano crossing the finish line first.
Joey Logano also won the first ever Busch Light Clash on the converted football field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2022.
In 2021, the NASCAR Cup Series changed from the 2.5 mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the road course race with road course expert AJ Allmendinger taking home the win.
Stull under the Covid pandemic lockdown, NASCAR moved to a number of newer course trying to keep travel to a minimum. Another one of those tracks was Nashville Superspeedway. While it carries the name of a Superspeedway, Nashville is a 1.33 mile oval. Kyle Larson was the first driver to win a race at Nashville.
Also new to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021 was COTA – Circuit of the Americas – a road course in Texas that was originally designed for the open wheel racing of Formula One cars. Chase Elliott proved his prowess on road course tracks with the first win.
A long time part of the Cup Series schedule, in 2021 NASCAR created their own dirt track at Bristol Motor Speedway. The rainy weather proved to bring a real challenge to the drivers turning the dirt into mud but Joey Logano proved victorious in conquering the track to earn the first win.
Early in the throws of the Covid pandemic in 2020, NASCAR chose to run the summer Daytona race on the road course used every year for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona races. Chase Elliott was the first driver to win on the course that includes some of Daytona’s high banked turns.
In 2018, NASCAR chose to make the second race at Charlotte Motor Speedway a road course race. Ryan Blaney was the first Cup Series driver to win on the Roval.
Though it is no longer a part of the schedule, in 2011 the Cup Series drivers began running at Kentucky Speedway with Kyle Busch driving the M&M’s car took home the win.
With NASCAR still in mourning from the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr, the drivers made their first race at Kansas Speedway with the Rainbow Warrior Jeff Gordon winning the race.
The summer of 2001 saw the inaugural race at Chicagoland Speedway with then rookie driver Kevin Harvick winning the race driving the 29 car for Richard Childress Racing.
In 1999, the NASCAR Cup Series ran on the mile and a half track in sunny Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Smoke himself, Tony Stewart, took home the first win.
Still a popular track on the NASCAR circuit, Mark Martin took home the first win in 1998 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
No longer the two mile track in southern California, Auto Club Speedway – California Speedway in 1997 – California native Jeff Gordon won the first race. The track has been reconfigured to a short track and is unknown whether it will return to a race on the NASCAR schedule.
In 1997, Texas joined the NASCAR circuit in a big way with a race at Texas Motor Speedway with Cowboy hats and six shooters for a trophy. Jeff Burton was the first driver to win the unique prize.
In 1994, NASCAR joined the races held at the iconic 2.5 mile oval of Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the home of the Indianapolis 500. Jeff Gordon took home that first win but it was 1997 when after winning the race that Dale Jarret started a new tradition – that of kissing the bricks.