Definition of "backstretch" [backstretch]

• The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Down the backstretch we flew, now doing over 90mph in a damn van."
• "Tuitert caught a break with his pairing — bronze medal winner Havard Bokko of Norway — and used him to draft on the backstretch twice en route to a track record of 1 minute, 45.57 seconds."
• "Now the race is on and here comes pride up the backstretch, heartache's a going to the inside..."