Caffeine and Octane's Lanier Raceway (formerly Lanier Raceplex and Lanier National Speedway) is a paved oval racetrack located just outside

Braselton, Georgia Braselton ( ) is a town in Jackson County, Georgia, Jackson, Barrow County, Georgia, Barrow, Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett, and Hall County, Georgia, Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, approximately northeast o ...

. The track opened in 1982 as a dirt track, and was paved in the mid-1980s. It is currently owned and operated by High Octane, LLC, an auto events & multimedia business conglomerate. The track was under the

NASCAR Whelen All-American Series The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series, Winston Racing Series and the Dodge Weekly Series) is a points championship for NASCAR-sanctioned local short-track motor racing in the United States and Canad ...

banner with super

late model Late Model stock car racing, also known as late model racing and late models, refers to a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other primarily on oval tracks. This type of racing was early-on ...

s, SuperTrucks, Junkyard Dogs, outlaw late models, mini stocks, INEX RaceCeiver/zMax legends cars and INEX bandolero cars. The track ended weekly racing at the end of the 2011 season, but remained open for larger events. In 2022, High Octane resumed weekly car events at the raceway for the first time since 2011. The

Pro All Stars Series The Pro All Stars Series is a stock car racing governing body active in the United States of America and Canada. The series started in 2001 and now sanctions various series including North, South, and National Super Late Model tours and a New Eng ...

hosted a national super late model event at Lanier on November 15–16, 2019. This served as the PASS National Championship final. On 1 January 2022 it was reported that the track had been sold to Caffeine and Octane. C&O's Lanier Raceway is located across from the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

owned

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

motor racing circuit.

History

In 2012, Lanier National Speedway was purchased by Jim Downing and renamed "Lanier Raceplex". The new venue was to host concerts and serve as a race track August 12 photos emerged showing the infield walls, buildings, and facilities being razed in preparation for a complete "black lake" paving job of the entire infield and oval. Track amenities also received major renovations. The track reopened January 2016 and features "arrive and drive" karting, as well as hosting oval track (legends series), and drift events. In 2021, the Lanier Raceplex functioned as an arrive and drive go-kart track and is hosted a four-race legends car series in July that was broadcast on NBC Sports Gold Trackpass. A ten race series was also held for arrive and drive go karts that year. In 2022, the now-formerly Lanier Raceplex was sold to High Octane Events, a multimedia motorsports event business headquartered in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, GA who also own the largest monthly car show in the world, Caffeine and Octane. C&O announced upon purchasing stated it intends to create a more actively used event space for drifting, racing, burnouts, car meets, driving competitions and other auto events with all makes and models of cars. Since then, Caffeine and Octane has resumed weekly events at the Lanier Raceway, including Friday Night Drift. As the only short, oval bank, paved track within of the city of Atlanta, Caffeine & Octane's Lanier Raceway has become a major hub for grassroots drifting and competition driving within the state of Georgia and across the Southeastern United States.

NASCAR Xfinity Series history

The

NASCAR Busch Grand National Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a C ...

ran five races at the track between 1988 and 1992.

Other major events

Lanier Raceplex hosted weekly

races. The track hosted 17

NASCAR Southeast Series The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series was a NASCAR-sanctioned amateur/semi-pro late model stock car racing series based in the Southeastern United States. The series was formerly known as the Slim Jim All Pro Series; it was founded i ...

races between 1991 and 2004. The track also hosted 2

NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour The Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams (SMART) Tour is a Modified stock car racing series racing in the Southeastern region of The United States. The series began in 1989, NASCAR took over the series in 2005. During its time as a NASCAR sanct ...

events: one in 2008 and the other in 2009. The

ARCA Re/Max Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

had run one event at the track, in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. The race was won by

David Ragan David Lee Ragan (born December 24, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on ...

. The facility hosted three

ASA National Tour The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt and dirt tracks in t ...

races between 2000 and 2004. One race was won by

Scott Wimmer Scott Allan Wimmer (born January 26, 1976) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has a total of six wins in the Xfinity Series. His brother Chris Wimmer competed in the Busch Series. Wimmer co-owns State Park Speedway in ...

and the other two events were won by

Mike Garvey Michael Garvey (born September 13, 1962) is an American professional stock car racing driver who currently works as a crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for DGM Racing's No. 90 Chevrolet Camaro. As a driver, he competed in NASCAR and the Ame ...

. CARS X1-R Pro Cup Series ran one race at the track, in 2009.

References

External links

Official site

Lanier Raceplex race results
at Racing-Reference {{ISCARS Dash racetracks NASCAR tracks ARCA Menards Series tracks Motorsport venues in Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures in Hall County, Georgia Tourist attractions in Hall County, Georgia Defunct motorsport venues in the United States 1982 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Sports venues completed in 1982