Bridgestone / Firestone Test Track, 8 mile oval, 3000 foot elevation
Created May 12, 2010
Route is visible to:
Everyone
Fort Stockton, TX, United States
Bridgestone / Firestone Test Track in Fort Stockton, Texas. Huge 8 mile test track with approximately 1.6 mile long straightaways and 2.4 miles around each turn. Located at 3000 foot elevation makes it one of the highest test tracks I can find. It appears in this 2010 Google (still in 2019) satellite photos that there is a dark stripe of maybe tar, maybe a repair to the track, between lanes 1 and 2 around each turn. I tried tracing down the center of these lines. This qualifies as one of the largest Test Tracks in the world. The Continental Tire 8.5 mile track in Udavele Texas may be larger but not as fast due to hills. Toyota has a ten mile track in Arizona, and in Nardo Italy there is a 7.5 mile Test track ring. This track is just southwest of the even larger BF Goodwich 9-mile circular track (the largest circle on Earth) located in Pecos, Texas. According to a 2016 article, presumably this Fort Stockton test rack was driven aroun by AJ Foyt in 1987. He set a world record for highest average speed around a closed loop course. He went 257 mph in an Oldsmobile Aerotech. This track is laid-out in a classic 60/40 split where 60% of the course is turns and 40% is straightaways. Many tracks around the world share this same ratio of dimensions including 400-meter running tracks, the Ford Windsor Test Track park (at nearly the same inclination), but only 1 mile around, and the Ford 5-mile Michigan Proving Grounds. Note some literature says this track is only 7.7 miles long, but MapMyRide clearly shows 8 miles around.
8.01 mi
Distance
132 ft
Elevation Gain
Bike Ride
Activity Type
Elevation
Start
3,041 ft
Max
3,114 ft
Gain
132 ft