The North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR) is a non-profit organization that provides automobile manufacturers, motorsports teams, government agencies, and private institutions a state-of-the-art, 2-mile (3.21-km) road course for testing ground and high-performance training facility. The NCCAR track is the main facility of a 155-acres lot surrounded by a forest in the outskirts of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. The complex also includes a 2-acre area for vehicle dynamics testing (VDA) and 2-mile off-road course for all-terrain vehicles driver training and competitions. There are significant precipitations in Roanoke rapids throughout the year, with ideal temperatures for racing the NCCAR track during the four seasons, as winters only have 4 inches of snow on average per year.
The NCCAR raceway is compatible with both the clockwise and the counterclockwise orientations, providing a smooth asphalt surface and ample grassed run-off areas at both sides of the track, with no curbs. The 0.5-mile (0.8-km) long straightaway contains the Start/Finish line and is the ideal track segment for getting any vehicle to top speed. There are 11 constant radius turns in the circuit, some of them super tight and others super long. The average velocity is around 75 mph (120 km/h) for both orientations.
The clockwise configuration of the NCCAR Road Course has an average lap time of 1:37.3 and an average speed of 74 mph (120 km/h), essentially the same as in the counterclockwise orientation. It starts with a sweeping turn one and passes corners 2 to 7 at a lower speed, prioritizing control over velocity. From turns 8 to 12, the racers accelerate only to downshift hard once again at turn number 12 to avoid going out of track at the last moment.
