Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile racetrack in Concord, North Carolina which held Okaycar races from 2019 until 2025, when it was forced off the schedule due to safety concerns, before being reinstated upon the series' return in 2037

## History in Okaycar

In 2019, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted the Redneck Pride 600, the sixth race in Okaycar history, won by season runner-up Chase Briscoe. It was the first win for Hoosier Motorsports, later known as Starr Racing. However, the race was marred by a terrible crash on the fifth lap of the race, when Buddy Lazier and Bertrand Baguette's cars were launched skyward at a very high speed after colliding with Cranjis McBasketball and each other.[1] Lazier was severely injured in the accident.

2020 saw Charlotte host two Okaycar races, the Pro race along with the penultimate race of the first Dev Series season, on the same weekend. Christian Eckes won the Dev Series race en route to his series championship, although the race was most well-remembered for Mario Bcukwalter's "Pass in the Grass" which was cited by Team Funni Scream owner Mapleboy Lastname as one of the driving factors of his promotion to the Pro Series the following year.

In 2021, Mr. Clean suffered a similar accident to Buddy Lazier, although Clean's car was launched faster than Lazier's, resulting in his car leaving the orbit of the Earth. He was presumed to be dead, before he landed back on Earth some time later. He would be killed in a crash at Iowa Speedway later that season.

In 2022, Christopher Bell would win the Pro Series race in a photo finish with Myatt Snider.[2]

Mark Thompson won the 2023 Dev Series opener at Charlotte, beginning the most dominant season of any driver in Okaycar history.

The 2023 Pro Series race at Charlotte was one of the most memorable races in Okaycar history. Under the lens of the ABC-Lexus manufacturer rivalry, the race was heavily hyped, especially after Cale Gale, a Lexus driver, won the previous race at Bowman Gray Stadium, and his teammate Kyle Weatherman won the pole. The race would quickly take an unexpected turn, as on the third lap, Colton Herta bounced off of the backstretch wall coming out of Turn 2, colliding with Mario Bcukwalter. Bcukwalter collided with Corey LaJoie, who spun in front of the field. In the mad rush to avoid the crash, Austin Powers was tagged by Mike Bliss, hitting an opening in the backstretch wall on the driver's-side door at over 100 MPH. Powers would pass away from his injuries, although his ghost would drive for the remainder of the season prior to his leaving for Heaven. Several laps later, Lexus driver Takuma Sato would seemingly intentionally wreck several Toyotas, including Natalie Decker and Con Nicolopoulos. With six laps to go in the race, the leader, Lexus driver Jeffrey Earnhardt was wrecked by the lapped car of Garrett Smithley, handing the lead to Biff Jerky. Due to a scoring error under caution, Smithley was allowed to get his lap back and erroneously went up to 2nd on the restart. Earnhardt had a big enough lead that after the wreck he was able to crawl to the finish line and maintain the lead, and as Jerky passed the damaged #3 car of Earnhardt, he was able to distance himself from the field and won the race.

In 2024, the Dev Series would not race at Charlotte. In the Pro Series race, another large accident occurred, when Spencer Gallagher and Tony Kanaan both flipped in Turn 4. Later in the race, a pileup involving over 10 cars would happen in Turn 1. Valtteri Bottas would ultimately win the race.

In the 2025 season, the final Okaycar race at Charlotte would take place. George Russell spun on the backstretch on the fourth lap and fell behind the pack. The caution did not come out. On the sixth lap, TV cameras caught John Fukushima and Alvaro Suzuki flipping in Turn 4. Fukushima landed on his roof, and many quickly began to worry for his safety. This was caused by Corey LaJoie spinning on the backstretch, and Todd Gilliland getting loose and going up into Suzuki, causing him to collide with Fukushima and causing the crash. Following this, a much worse crash would happen in Turn 3. LaJoie was stopped on the track, and was T-boned by George Russell at over 130 MPH. LaJoie's car flipped numerous times after the impact, and he would ultimately succumb to his injuries later that night. Russell broke his legs in the crash, and had to sit out the remainder of the 2025 season. Rookie Uncle Pulltab would go on to win the race, the only win of his career, and the only win for Regular Racing. Also notable was that this race saw Harrison Burton's final podium finish before his death after the 2025 season, finishing second.

The death of LaJoie was the final straw for many. The events of the Charlotte race directly led to the formation of the Okaycar Drivers' Union. Drivers in the union promised to boycott all future races until Charlotte was permanently removed from the schedule. Charlotte's high cornering speeds and narrow track width made it the most dangerous racetrack in the series. Okaycar CEO Harvey Broccoli initially ignored these concerns, but after only eight cars arrived for the following race at Rainbow Road, Charlotte was permanently removed from the Okaycar schedule.

In 2037, Charlotte was rebuilt during the Charlotte Rising project, and returned to the Okaycar schedule. After several casualty-free races, the 2041 running was marred by the death of series legend Noah Gragson, sparking a renewed protest of the track. Despite this, t is currently slated to stay on the schedule for the foreseeable future.

## Winners

Dev Series
 2022