NASCAR: Nashville Superspeedway is latest track to dump NASCAR affiliation

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LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC
This is the last year for NASCAR events at Nashville Superspeedway.

By: Al Pearce on 8/03/2011

Nashville Superspeedway is the latest racetrack to dump its NASCAR affiliation for the foreseeable future. On Wednesday, Dover Motorsports--which owns the 1.333-mile track in Tennessee--said it will not host the Nationwide Series or Camping World Truck Series races next year. The two series had raced there every year since the track opened in 2001.

Cliff Hawks, the track's vice president and general manager, explained that not having a Sprint Cup Series date made it hard to continue with NASCAR in the challenging economic climate.

"Nashville is a tremendous market filled with passionate fans," he said. "We have some extremely dedicated and talented employees who have made this track a great destination. But the reality is that, after 10 years, we have to face the fact that without a Sprint Cup race and/or a significant change in the operating model for other events, we simply cannot continue."

Hawks said the track's few remaining events this year will run as scheduled.

Denis McGlynn, president & CEO of Dover Motorsports, said, "We deeply appreciate all the hard work our employees have put into making Nashville Superspeedway such a remarkable facility, and Cliff will remain to assist us with transition issues. We have also had years of unrelenting support from state, county and local officials, and from the racing community--from racing fans and drivers to sponsors, team owners and various sanctioning bodies. We are, however, at a juncture where we must evaluate all of our options for this track, including its possible sale."

The concrete track has 25,000 permanent seats and lights and has hosted Nationwide, Camping World, ARCA and Izod IndyCar Series races. It is the second Dover Motorsports property to shut down, following Gateway International Raceway (a former venue for Nationwide, Camping World, ARCA and IndyCar), which closed after last season.

NASCAR several weeks ago announced that it will not send its Nationwide and Camping World teams back to Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis next year, thus ending a 30-year presence at the popular short track.

 

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