CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After a busy weekend at North Wilkesboro, NASCAR will turn its attention about 80 miles to the south, to Charlotte Motor Speedway, this weekend.

The Coca-Cola 600 will wave the green flag on Sunday night at the speedway, weeks after paint work began at the track.

What You Need To Know

  •  Speedway estimates it takes 1,500 gallons of paint to prepare

  •  Large Coca-Cola 600 logo on infield takes 2-3 days to paint with 400-500 gallons

  •  Dozens of employees begin painting in early May 

On the infield of Charlotte Motor Speedway alone, it takes weeks, hundreds of gallons of paint and dozens of people to paint the colors and logos of NASCAR and its main sponsors.

For the man tasked with overseeing this race track and its paint scheme, it’s two weeks of meticulous detail.

“There’s a lot of detail that goes into painting these, 'cause you have three different colors. And you have a pretty eccentric style to it,” explained Garrett Carter while driving around the paved racing loop.

Carter is the speedway’s vice president of operations and is in his 10th year with Speedway Motorsports.

“I love it. I was a race fan before I started working here. And I had the opportunity to join this team here, this company, and I just love it. I mean the fans, all of our partners, and all of our customers, it’s just an awesome opportunity,” Carter said.

Carter started his career in arenas, but managing a 2,000-acre speedway complex, and its more than 20-degree banked turns, is a different beast.

“We can have up to 20 or 30 staff doing the intricate part of painting this graphic here, whether it’s the front, backstretch or the turns. It takes a lot of people to do it, 'cause if it was just one person’s job, it would take all year long,” Carter added.

For example, Carter said it often takes several employees, using hand rollers and brushes, to paint the SAFER barrier logos on the speedway’s turns at extreme angles, as they are banked at 24 degrees.

Overall, Carter’s team handles track painting, grandstand cleaning, landscaping, flags and signage. But, one of the most important jobs they have is making sure every logo is perfect for fans and television.

“We’re very detail-orientated, and that we use a certain type of paint and the color schemes and all the logos are correct. Because, it’s the brand exposure that a lot of these sponsors, all of our sponsors get, 'cause it’s getting the most TV time through an event,” Carter said while inspecting the infield’s large logos on Friday.

The process is also high-tech. A GPS robot ensures every logo is stenciled precisely on the grass, using a complex sensor system and careful sizing measurements.

“Life’s easy, that thing's paid itself already, three or four times over, maybe even more than that,” Carter said while watching the robot.

Before the technology upgrade, members of the staff used to trace the logos themselves, checking their location on the turf every few inches against a stationary GPS monitor, telling them where to stand. Carter described it as a time-consuming and exhausting process.

The large Coca-Cola 600 logo across the infield near the finish line takes 2-3 days to paint in its entirety and roughly 400-500 gallons of paint. Once the logos are GPS mapped, prepped and painted, sponsor representatives approve it for fans and TV. Carter joked they have had to redo logos before, due to sponsor concerns, which is why they are so meticulous from the start.

As the race approaches, Carter’s crew will have used thousands of gallons of turf paint across the equivalent of 14 NFL end zones. 

“We take a lot of pride in our job, our whole team does. And, if we don’t get excited about it, nobody will. So, when we talk to our friends and family about the Coke 600 and the big race, they get excited about it too,” Carter said with a smile, saying he was looking forward to watching the race with his three boys.