dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
Some breaking news from Dover Motorsports that Nashville will no longer host events starting 2012. This is being reported on NASCAR Radio.
No trucks, no Nationwide.
Not cool.
No trucks, no Nationwide.
Not cool.
No more Nashville!
- Thread starter dpkimmel2001
- Start date
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
Dover CEO on Nashville: "Without a Sprint Cup race and/or a significant change in the operating model .. we simply cannot continue.”
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SlowNeasy
Guest
well damn 
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
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Mopardh9
Guest
Looks like they are poised to sell Nashville, too bad, there has been some good racing there. I didn't realize there were only 25k seats. Looks like contraction will be the norm with Nascar in the near future?
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Guido
Guest
Wow
Must make Nascar happy.
Now they can use that date to have a NW or truck race on the same weekend as a Cup race at the same facility so that more Cup drivers can race in those series.
Yeah, that will really help Nascar keep their fan base.
Must make Nascar happy.
Now they can use that date to have a NW or truck race on the same weekend as a Cup race at the same facility so that more Cup drivers can race in those series.
Yeah, that will really help Nascar keep their fan base.
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
Now that Nashville will become nothing more than an expensive testing facility could we possibly see a Rockingham Truck/Nationwide weekend?
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Mopardh9
Guest
Now that Nashville will become nothing more than an expensive testing facility could we possibly see a Rockingham Truck/Nationwide weekend?
Doubt it, seems like France wrote that track off a long time ago.
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
Doubt it, seems like France wrote that track off a long time ago.
We shall see my friend, we shall see.
This move has opened up two combo weekends on next years schedule for the Truck/Nationwide Series. It'll be interesting to see where they go. Maybe back to LOR after all.
MRM
Team Owner
This group built several tracks banking on getting Cup dates when NASCAR was growing and expanding. They did not get a date for any of them. I don't know if it was poor planning or bad management.
The bad thing is people in the mid and western part of the state have no NASCAR races to go to without going to Talladega or Kentucky.
The bad thing is people in the mid and western part of the state have no NASCAR races to go to without going to Talladega or Kentucky.
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
I'm shocked 
The writing was on the wall, Dover Motorsports Inc. is horribly mismanaged.
The writing was on the wall, Dover Motorsports Inc. is horribly mismanaged.
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
So, in the past few years, Memphis, Gateway, Mansfield, Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis and Nashville have all closed or lost their NASCAR races thanks to the man who has single handedly destroyed NASCAR.
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
Yep, Dover Motorsports is horribly mismanaged. I'll be shocked if Dover's not purchased by ISC or Smitty.
Blaze
The Midnight Rider
Yet another good track gone I loved the races here.
I loved the races here.
J
John Galt
Guest
That was meant as a joke, right?Now that Nashville will become nothing more than an expensive testing facility could we possibly see a Rockingham Truck/Nationwide weekend?
Hmm....apparently nobody is interested in watching Nationwide drivers; shocker.
MRM
Team Owner
Did Nashville even have an IRL race this year?
I went to 2 races at Nashville and loved it. Nice track. Would of went a few weeks ago but did not have the money cause ky was a few weeks before. I was already planning on going next year.
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
Wrong. The track sold more tickets than most of the companion races did.
Dover Motorsports mis-management is the demise.
But keep thinking that "Tracks are going away because everyone wants to see Kyle and Carl win every Nationwide race", that's the thinking that's going to be the end of the Nationwide Series altogether.
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
It can be spun any way anyone wants to, they simply weren't selling the seats anymore for whatever the reason.
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Jameswnh
Guest
I realize this is one of those subjects that gets brought up ad nauseum around here, but I don't buy the theory that nobody will watch Nationwide races without Cup drivers for one second. That's actually the kind of thinking I believe got it in such bad shape in the first place. If it was really true, how on earth did it survive beyond the '80s? Or even the '90s for that matter, when a good race could have meant Chuck Bown racing Kenny Wallace or Robert Pressley for a win at Hickory, with V6 engines no less? How could the Busch Series ever have made it with that group of Cup also-rans being front and center? Actually, I think the fact a corporation as prominent as Anheiser-Busch was on as title sponsor for so long tells you all you need to know about what people thought of the primitive, Cup driver lacking Busch Series.
The drivers aren't the issue. If you took all the Cup drivers out of companion events at the big tracks like Texas, sure some folks won't bother going, but I think we're talking about a few thousand, not half the fan base as your argument would suggest. For the most part though, race fans will show up if there is a good race to see. The real problem is that a long time ago, NASCAR began transforming the Busch Series into something it was never supposed to be. They somehow got the false idea that it needed to be a mirror image of the Cup Series to be worth anyone's time. That proved untrue rather quickly. Instead of Hickory and South Boston, they had to be at all the places the Cup cars were. Texas, Michigan, Fontana, and now Indianapolis, that's where they have to be, right? Wrong, but like all problems NASCAR is faced with, they put lipstick on a pig instead of attempting to undo their mistake.
That's my take on the situation of course, but looking at just hard numbers, your argument still doesn't seem to hold water. Stand alone races at Iowa, Road America, and IRP drew 38,000 and 50,000, 36,000 people respectively. That's right on par with what companion races overrun by Cup drivers draw in.
Sticking to Nashville specifically, don't those races typically have their fair share of Cup raiders anyway? How does the removal of those races prove the Cup argument? My guess is that poor attendance there was caused by the same thing that's keeping people away from the cup races at similar tracks. The racing just isn't anything to write home about.
True story. Each posted reply has an idea or a guess as to why but the bottom line is there weren't enough fans attending.
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
If "fans not showing up for races" is the precedent, half the Nationwide companion events that only draw 5,000 people should be gone and Homestead-Miami Speedway should've been gone years ago.
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nascage
Guest
Looks like they haven't been there since 2008. Used to be a great race.
Gonna miss Nashville, and what some drivers call the coolest race "trophy", ever. Lot's of places the NNS race could end up at, as some of you have suggested already. Maybe Pocono, Infineon, or a return to Martinsville. Who knows.
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
Rockingham, Milwaukee and New Jersey would be good bets.
I'd like to see them go back to Nashville Fairgrounds... they've got to get rid of the incumbent Nashville mayor first.
I'd like to see them go back to Nashville Fairgrounds... they've got to get rid of the incumbent Nashville mayor first.
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chromehorn
Guest
I don't know, the last few Memphis races had pretty good crowds and the same with Nashville for the most part, I don't have actual figures though, just going from memory. If attendance is really the reason (which I still say the real reason is that Dover motorsports is run by idiots) then the only thing I can come up with is that there are just a bunch of cheap ****ers in my area because there was some good racing most of the time.
But in reality, how many tracks do well without the Cup races and just Nationwide and/or trucks?
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
Dover Motorsports is horribly mismanaged, Stevie Wonder could see this coming. In fact, Helen Keller could see AND hear this coming.
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
They do well for a while and then fan interest seems to drop off once the local fans realize a Cup date is not in the future. While Nashville was a great venue, fan interest seemed to wane as time went by. There are many reasons why these tracks are loosing these dates.
Dover Motorsports is a publicly traded company that didn't like to spend money. They cut back on staff to save and that cut back on the quality of their product. They didn't heavily promote their races either. First Memphis , then Gateway and now Nashville. For a long, long time I was a season ticket holder to the Monster Mile. I don't recall them ever sending me information about their other venues. Maybe had they threw in a couple of brochures about their other tracks, it may have peaked my interest.
Dover Motorsports couldn't even sell a sponsor for their spring Nashville event since 2008. Was that poor management or a poor economy?
Not to steal from another thread started but I'd imagine that the 'testing ban' instituted by NASCAR has to hurt some of these tracks. They are loosing added revenue from that. Even bigger, I keep hearing about 'sanction fees' lately and the high cost of hosting an event. I don't have a clue what NASCAR charges these tracks to host an event but I'd guess that's a large factor.
Whatever the issues are that are causing the closing of these tracks, it's a shame. I'd like to support more of these venues but I'm already @ my limit of what race weekends that I can afford.
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MOEJOE
Guest
they couldn't sell 25k for a nationwide race.
Figured this was coming after they closed Memphis and Gateway... Went there once for ARCA/Busch, probably the coldest race i've been to. Glad i checked the place out but the racing wasnt the greatest... Would be cool if they would at least give 1 of the truck races to the fairgrounds but probably would never happen... Why dont the Trucks or Nationwide race at Irwindale?
That's a great track. They get a good crowd for the K&N Pro series race in January.
That's a great track. They get a good crowd for the K&N Pro series race in January.
Nitro Dude
Hauler Driver and Cylinder Head Maintenance
I live just south east of that track. That is a nice track. Do you ever go there for the turkey night race?
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chromehorn
Guest
That does hurts things a bit.
I will say this about Memphis when it was having races, they didn't advertise it worth a damn locally, and thats being generous. There would be a small corner add in the sports section starting a week or two before the race, TV adds were at odd times and not very often usually just around the time the local news would do their sports segment at night. The only time they would really push it was about 2 or 3 days prior to the race.
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
It's too bad ARCA's run by a bunch of chimpanzees, otherwise that series would be looking mighty good for people who are fed up with Brian France./
I live just south east of that track. That is a nice track. Do you ever go there for the turkey night race?
Never went to that event. Just went to the Toyota All Star Showdown in 2010 and 2011. Really great facility though. I have been wondering since i've been there why they don't have trucks and Nationwide. Trucks went to Mansfield up until a couple of years ago, Irwindale is MUCH nicer than that place, so i dont understand why they cant get big NASCAR races.
Seems like ARCA is getting a lot worse these days. I guess ARCA can't really help the Childress domination. But their schedule has been shrinking every year for the past years. And they have much less full time teams running this year(especially teams that are actually good). K&N Pro Seires east though, has a really good amount of teams this year. If you look at their standings there are a ton of drivers that have started every race, or missed only 1 or 2 events. Hopefully ARCA is better next year..
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Mopardh9
Guest
So with all these tracks losing dates, do you guys think they will go the way of the bulldozer?
Be cool to see them back at the Fairgrounds
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robbybee
Guest
That was my first thought when I heard this news. Now, though, Sam Bass is out of a gig and Pee Wee will have no more trophies to go all Pete Townsend with.