A large sinkhole at Charlotte Motor Speedway has swallowed up a large swath of infield. Speedway representatives say the sinkhole may have been caused by heavy rain and the fact that the track was built atop a landfill.
The Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of the major tracks on the NASCAR circuit and home to many races. This particular sinkhole formed before the upcoming Bank of America 500. This event draws 100,000 fans and the facility will need to hurry and fill a massive sinkhole that opened up in the middle of the infield.
According to the management of the track, a drain pipe that was a part of the landfill the racetrack was constructed on caused the sinkhole. The drain pipe was more than 30 years old and was slowly crumbling. Finally it collapsed after heavy rainfall soaked the area. "We are replacing the old pipe, backfilling the dirt, and packing it down," said a CMS spokesperson. Photos from WCNC show the hole is more than 35 feet deep and about 75 feet long, which is large enough to support the digging equipment they've had to lower into the hole to start the work.
