Is NASCAR's true 'home' in Charlotte or in Daytona? It depends on how you look at it.

It was NASCAR’s second 500-mile race, following the Southern 500 at Darlington, and instantly became an event that is often compared to the Super Bowl.

“It’s strange how it’s all so close together,” said Chris Buescher, who reached the Round of 8 of last year’s Cup Series playoffs. “It’s definitely got its two core groups — very much NASCAR headquarters stuff down here, and the teams’ side is a lot more centrally located in North Carolina.”

Charlotte is the modern hub

Many of NASCAR’s teams are headquartered in the Charlotte area, and have been for some time. That hasn’t always been the case, but it’s been the practical choice.

Furniture Row Racing, a Cup Series team from 2005-18, was based in Denver. The No. 78 team made it work despite the distance — Martin Truex Jr. won his 2017 title while the team was in Colorado.

But even when its best driver was the reigning champion of NASCAR’s highest series, running a team that far away from Charlotte wasn’t sustainable.

“We laugh a little bit, we joke because nobody really knows why Charlotte is the area that NASCAR converged on,” said Justin Allgaier, who added he did countless book reports in school about the start of auto racing. “It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, other than Charlotte Motor Speedway, which wasn’t built until years after Daytona International was built.

“You look at baseball or football, any other stick-and-ball sport, there’s no real hot bed of where those players come from or where those teams are based out of. I think that’s what makes racing so unique.”

As exciting as the Daytona 500 is, Charlotte plays a crucial role as a home for NASCAR. Young drivers looking to break into the sport often move to the area to network with teams. With Charlotte Motor Speedway existing since 1960, the city has had its own share of crown jewel races. And, the sport’s Hall of Fame is there.

“I’m not sure what employee doesn’t live in Charlotte or within 20 or 30 minutes in North Carolina,” Carson Hocevar said. “And if anybody wants to win, they want to win in front of their family and at Charlotte. There’s a hometown feel when we race at Charlotte.”

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