CONCORD, N.C. -- It was standing room only in Concord's city council meeting Monday night. More than a hundred people packed the room and spilled out into the hallway to hear council members vote against a drag racing strip to be built near Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Cathy Rollman, a resident, was against the track being built so close to nearby homes. She said, "It was so exciting to see the council actually vote in favor of the people instead of big money."

Workers had already started grading the land to make way for the strip.

Another resident told council the economic benefits were too great to ignore.

"It's not secret that this community and this area prides itself on being the motorsports capital of the U.S. and I don't think that we can turn our back on motorsports," he said.

But Rollman said it's not the strip they oppose, but rather the location of it.

"That's a wonderful thing for this community of Concord that lives by this industry. But not half a mile from several hundred homes," she said.

Homeowners worried about even more noise and their property value going down.

Speedway owner Bruton Smith would have to take the city to court in order to reverse the decision.