CONCORD — Charlotte Motor Speedway has opened its third annual Christmas light show. The show has more than 3 million LED lights in 800 displays. 
There is a Christmas Village on Thursday through Sunday nights with food, marshmallow roasting around Johnson Concrete fire pits, children’s rides, a petting zoo, a horse-drawn wagon ride and a Bethlehem Village with a live Nativity scene. In Santa’s North Pole, there is a Festival of Trees and Santa.
Christmas movies are shown on Friday and Saturday nights starting at 7 p.m. with shows such as “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Elf,”  “A Christmas Story,” “How the  Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Christmas Vacation.”  The movies are shown on the giant HD scene inside the track. 
Enter the event from Bruton Smith Boulevard at the zMAX Dragway entrance. The road winds around past light displays until you enter the track through the backstretch tunnel.
Admission is $15 per car Monday through Wednesday nights when the Christmas Village is closed, and it is $20 per car Thursday through Sunday when the village is open.

Photos and story by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post