Racing takes place on many tracks across the globe. From small hometown speedways, to famous circuits like Le Mans, Daytona, Monaco and Indy. However, individual racing series are somewhat regionalized (with the notable exceptions of F1 & WRC, which contest races all over the planet).
For example, NASCAR racing is primarily thought of at a Southern-based series, which is where its roots lie. Most of the tracks are still located in the American Southeast, although NASCAR does have races in New York State, Delaware, New Hampshire, Texas and California. The hub of NASCAR competition is the Daytona International Speedway, located in Daytona Beach Florida.
Champ Car/OWRS (formally CART) race tracks offer a wide variety of conditions. From the super-high velocities of California Super-speedway in Fontana, to the cut-and-thrust racing of The Molson Indy in Vancouver, Canada, OWRS race tracks are known for variety as well as close proximity to major urban areas.
Indy Racing League tracks offer a wide variety of conditions. From the super-high velocities of California Super-speedway in Fontana, to the cut-and-thrust racing of the Long Beach Grand Prix IRL race tracks are known for variety as well as close proximity to major urban areas. The majority of IRL tracks are the traditional American oval. The most memorable of these tracks (if not of all tracks in the world) is the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of The Indy 500.
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) also races on both natural road courses as well as the occasional street course. Highlights of the ALMS calendar are venues like the sweeping Road Atlanta, the daunting track at Laguna Seca (as a fan about "The Corkscrew") and the world famous 12 hours of Sebring endurance race in Florida.
The Grand Prix World Championship (Formula 1) is just that: a world Championship. Taking place on such storied race track as Monza Italy, Silverstone England, Spa Belgium and Monte Carlo, F1 is all glitz, glamour, high speed and famous racing cars.
The World Rally Championship (WRC) races are the very extreme. From 2 feet of snow in Sweden, to blazing hot gravel tracks in Greece. From glare ice in Finland, to hot tarmac in San Remo, from farm roads in Australia and New Zealand, to rain drenched mud tracks in England. Oh, and then there's the Monte Carlo Rally, which features snow, ice, rain, dry tarmac, wet tarmac and huge cliffs. What most of us would call impassable, rally drivers call a race track. What most of us would call lunacy, rally drivers call fun.
See also: world and track maps for these series.
