Report: NASCAR returning to Nashville in 2021

Be happy that NASCAR is listening and trying to shake **** up.
Who is asking for Dover to be replaced with a D intermediate track?

This is as much “the fans have spoken” per Brian France in regards to the playoff points system.
 
Who is asking for Dover to be replaced with a D intermediate track?

This is as much “the fans have spoken” per Brian France in regards to the playoff points system.
Dover owns Nashville.

It's all within their wheelhouse, they approved the move. The schedule had been called stale for a long time and small changes are being made to test the waters. I get it, we want short tracks. I do too, I love them and they are awesome.

At the same time, if the independent corportation in Dover Motorsorts can get the seats to fill, it could lead to some great moves. Gateway could have also been an option as the Dover also owns it. We'll see, I just like the shake-ups being made because you have to crack some eggs to see how things go.
 
Dover owns Nashville.

It's all within their wheelhouse, they approved the move.
Good for them but the question wasn’t “Did the owners approve?” but I guess it does answer “who is asking?”.

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I can see both sides of people being happy about this track and people less than enthused........ I am on the excited side because while I had hoped for another short track myself because its my favorite kind of track on the Cup Schedule I also am excited to have a track I can take my wife to or other members of my family because its Nashville like how cool is that? There are ample hotels 35 min away, and the city itself! When I bring my wife to races her favorites were Daytona ( duh. The Beach), and Kentucky ( we stayed in Louisville...45 min away. Very cool place). I brought her to Bristol last year and lets just say I was more excited about the trip, we stayed in Johnson City Tn which I liked but I think she got bored. There is a huge component to this that many might be taking for granted....... when people go to a track its a vacation destination. There really needs to be things to do about 30-40 minutes away from the track, I cant imagine a family of 4 driving longer than to and from the track. I already am pricing out a trip to travel down to the first race back, a flight from my house to Nashville is 45 min and its cheap. You cant beat this if you're from the midwest we get another track thats close. There is no downside to this move for me....... I also hope Cup can go to a combo of Milwaukee Mile, Gateway or Road America. All tracks with things to do around them.
 
SMI wants the state of Tennessee to pass a ticket tax to use that money for improvements to FGS. In other words, rich people want the taxpayers to pay for something they (rich people) will make money from.

This will be a hard sell to your typical Nashvilian who overwhelmingly probably don't GAF about racing at all. And it's the same with professional sports venues everywhere. These billionaire owners always looking for taxpayer money to build their stadiums. City taxes aren't much fun that's why I dont live in one.
 
This will be a hard sell to your typical Nashvilian who overwhelmingly probably don't GAF about racing at all. And it's the same with professional sports venues everywhere. These billionaire owners always looking for taxpayer money to build their stadiums. City taxes aren't much fun that's why I dont live in one.
SMI is trying to get things done with other people's money. That is a good reason why it isn't going anywhere. Smith proposed a 45 million bond and 2 million in hard cash that wouldn't go very far. I think that was twice as much as the city was willing to go on the hook for.
 
A market that wanted NASCAR to be there.

That was the reason why the banquet was moved to Nashville.
It’s a sure fire market, that’s not the argument.

Fans see Nashville NASCAR race and overwhelmingly point towards the Fairgrounds.

Nope. Returning to the super speedway.

They’ll attend but the excitement is quelled.
 
It’s a sure fire market, that’s not the argument.

Fans see Nashville NASCAR race and overwhelmingly point towards the Fairgrounds.

Nope. Returning to the super speedway.

They’ll attend but the excitement is quelled.
The Fairgrounds are not ready to house the fans SMI wants.

They still are fighting for the funding to move everything forward along with the Soccer Stadium Complex. There are still a lot of moving blocks, so use Nashville as a baseline for the next 4-5 years to see what is needed to grow. It's a combination of letting Nashville's cabinet to fund the track and giving SMI a baseline of what is possible in the needs of expanding the facility. Nashville had a nice facility and more seating can be put in by Dover, in the past Dover did not want to put in more seating, that's why the track closed for an extended period of time.

Use the Independent marque (Dover Motorsports) to set a baseline and then SMI can look everything statistics wise to make the moves necessary. How many people on average are attending? How many seats need to be added? What needs to be done in terms of ensuring campgrounds have the space for fans? How much are they charging for tickets? What is the average ticket cost per person? What amenities does Nashville have that the Fairgrounds do not? Enough garage space for teams and haulers, does the Fairgrounds need more space? Safety precautions? What are the fans wanting to see around the track for entertainment, etc? There are so many questions that can be asked to see how the Fairgrounds can be prepared after watching Nashville operate for the next 4 to 5 years.

Money of course is a big deal. They want to ensure they are able to maximize after what is going to be spent by SMI in changes to the track, its the same reason why Phoenix is the last race on the schedule. ISC wants to give a reason for fans to attend a newly renovated track to maximize their profits to pay off for the reconfiguration.
 
The Fairgrounds are not ready to house the fans SMI wants.

They still are fighting for the funding to move everything forward along with the Soccer Stadium Complex. There are still a lot of moving blocks, so use Nashville as a baseline for the next 4-5 years to see what is needed to grow. It's a combination of letting Nashville's cabinet to fund the track and giving SMI a baseline of what is possible in the needs of expanding the facility. Nashville had a nice facility and more seating can be put in by Dover, in the past Dover did not want to put in more seating, that's why the track closed for an extended period of time.

Use the Independent marque (Dover Motorsports) to set a baseline and then SMI can look everything statistics wise to make the moves necessary. How many people on average are attending? How many seats need to be added? What needs to be done in terms of ensuring campgrounds have the space for fans? How much are they charging for tickets? What is the average ticket cost per person? What amenities does Nashville have that the Fairgrounds do not? Enough garage space for teams and haulers, does the Fairgrounds need more space? Safety precautions? What are the fans wanting to see around the track for entertainment, etc? There are so many questions that can be asked to see how the Fairgrounds can be prepared after watching Nashville operate for the next 4 to 5 years.

Money of course is a big deal. They want to ensure they are able to maximize after what is going to be spent by SMI in changes to the track, its the same reason why Phoenix is the last race on the schedule. ISC wants to give a reason for fans to attend a newly renovated track to maximize their profits to pay off for the reconfiguration.
I hope I’m wrong but in my eye the superspeedway being immensely successful is a death warrant for ever racing at the Fairgrounds. I dont want the superspeedway to fail, don’t twist it. But for over a decade NASCAR fans have stated “moving to more big race tracks made sense when the sport was peaking but now the stands cant be filled and the racing isn't attractive”. At any moment the funds from 1 or several intermediate races could have been used to rebuild a lost short track but it never happened, owners were content. They even added Kentucky to the Cup schedule - another intermediate.

Again, it’s a noble cause but I do not see it happening. Hope I’m wrong.
 
I don't understand why they don't just spend 2 or 3 hundred million on a North Wilkesboro repave.

Or The Rock ... they could smooth that out with 150 million.
 
The fairground race track would produce a great race but Im gonna be completely honest and anyone else who has been there will agree, its a dump. The entire compound would have to be redone and a ton of land would have to be bought around it.
 
This will be a hard sell to your typical Nashvilian who overwhelmingly probably don't GAF about racing at all. And it's the same with professional sports venues everywhere. These billionaire owners always looking for taxpayer money to build their stadiums. City taxes aren't much fun that's why I dont live in one.
I'm in Knoxville. I haven't kept up with the MLS stadium they want to build on the fairgrounds site, so I don't know if any taxpayer money went into that. I know it did when they built Nissan Stadium over 20 years ago and that got a lukewarm reception. The thought was the Titans' owner should pay for it. He was the ultimate rich guy cheapskate.

I agree FGS isn't the ideal place for a Cup race. There isn't much room for anything around it, especially when they add the MLS stadium and some huge apartment complex. The problem NASCAR has had for 10 years is they left the "dumps" that produced some exciting racing for these polished speed palaces that usually produce ho-hum racing.
 
I'm in Knoxville. I haven't kept up with the MLS stadium they want to build on the fairgrounds site, so I don't know if any taxpayer money went into that. I know it did when they built Nissan Stadium over 20 years ago and that got a lukewarm reception. The thought was the Titans' owner should pay for it. He was the ultimate rich guy cheapskate.

I agree FGS isn't the ideal place for a Cup race. There isn't much room for anything around it, especially when they add the MLS stadium and some huge apartment complex. The problem NASCAR has had for 10 years is they left the "dumps" that produced some exciting racing for these polished speed palaces that usually produce ho-hum racing.
If people would have filled Rockingham up we would still be there.
 
If people would have filled Rockingham up we would still be there.
Not sure they'd fill it up either if it was revived ( I would buy a Cup and Xfinity ticket for sure). Cool track though, I love watching old races from there
 
Incoming hot take.

Not every race track is going to be Humpy Wheeler’s family attraction with entertainment to boot. Most tracks are smack in the middle of nowhere with 2-3 star lodging surrounding and the track facilities are straight out of a county fair.

If fans and teams can stomach those dumps, they can stomach a revitalized Fairgrounds.
 
Incoming hot take.

Not every race track is going to be Humpy Wheeler’s family attraction with entertainment to boot. Most tracks are smack in the middle of nowhere with 2-3 star lodging surrounding and the track facilities are straight out of a county fair.

If fans and teams can stomach those dumps, they can stomach a revitalized Fairgrounds.

The hotels around Martinsville Speedway are ****holes. You have to drive a good ways to get to a good one.

NASCAR needs to get back to racing and quit trying to make every race a carnival-like event. I'd rather see them qualify in the morning or run and Xfinity race or something instead of getting to the track and waiting.

When I was a paying fan going to these races, I HATED the Saturday night races at Richmond. I would've rather them qualified in the afternoon before the race, or run Xfinity in the late afternoon, or something. NASCAR tracks were freaking obsessed with "the party" and the Humpy Wheeler carnival and the pre-race country concerts.

Ironically, this was around the same time I gave up on going to NASCAR races and started going to short tracks and dirt tracks and dragstrips instead. :)
 
When I was a paying fan going to these races, I HATED the Saturday night races at Richmond. I would've rather them qualified in the afternoon before the race, or run Xfinity in the late afternoon, or something. NASCAR tracks were freaking obsessed with "the party" and the Humpy Wheeler carnival and the pre-race country concerts.

When I used to go to races by myself (or with one other person), I would show up right around green flag time in order to miss all of the pre race ****.

I started going to races with a bunch of other guys a couple of years ago and we started tailgating in order to not have to deal with that ****. One of them is always so drunk that he misses most of the race but his money, not mine.

I usually don't drink at sporting events because I want to enjoy the event and get my moneys worth. As I result, I also end up being the DD.
 
One of them is always so drunk that he misses most of the race but his money, not mine.
I usually don't drink at sporting events because I want to enjoy the event and get my moneys worth. As I result, I also end up being the DD.
I'll always remember walking through the lot at Richmond, 30 minutes to the green, four drunk guys shaking the car back and forth, trying to wake the fifth drunk asleep behind the wheel, doors locked, windows up, ... race tickets on the dashboard.
 
The hotels around Martinsville Speedway are ****holes. You have to drive a good ways to get to a good one.

NASCAR needs to get back to racing and quit trying to make every race a carnival-like event. I'd rather see them qualify in the morning or run and Xfinity race or something instead of getting to the track and waiting.

When I was a paying fan going to these races, I HATED the Saturday night races at Richmond. I would've rather them qualified in the afternoon before the race, or run Xfinity in the late afternoon, or something. NASCAR tracks were freaking obsessed with "the party" and the Humpy Wheeler carnival and the pre-race country concerts.

Ironically, this was around the same time I gave up on going to NASCAR races and started going to short tracks and dirt tracks and dragstrips instead. :)

Well it's one of the cooler parts about racing is the "big event" atmosphere. But also I think it's funny how most southerners differ on the way they view race attending, compared to someone like myself who grew up in the Midwest. For us race weekend was a camping vacation so having all those things at the track made it cooler in my opinion because the track is a destination, not just a venue.
 
Well it's one of the cooler parts about racing is the "big event" atmosphere. But also I think it's funny how most southerners differ on the way they view race attending, compared to someone like myself who grew up in the Midwest. For us race weekend was a camping vacation so having all those things at the track made it cooler in my opinion because the track is a destination, not just a venue.
Andy isnt your typical Southern fan by a long shot. The majority live for camping, pre race, souviner row, the whole 9 yards.
 
When I used to go to races by myself (or with one other person), I would show up right around green flag time in order to miss all of the pre race ****.

I started going to races with a bunch of other guys a couple of years ago and we started tailgating in order to not have to deal with that ****. One of them is always so drunk that he misses most of the race but his money, not mine.

I usually don't drink at sporting events because I want to enjoy the event and get my moneys worth. As I result, I also end up being the DD.

I never understood the drunks either. At the first Brickyard, the two guys that sat next to us drank beer all day, and while they didn't act drunk, they spent about 40% of the race going to the restroom. I have been going to NASCAR races since 1983, and I don't believe I have ever missed a single green flag lap because I had to take a bathroom break.
 
Well it's one of the cooler parts about racing is the "big event" atmosphere. But also I think it's funny how most southerners differ on the way they view race attending, compared to someone like myself who grew up in the Midwest. For us race weekend was a camping vacation so having all those things at the track made it cooler in my opinion because the track is a destination, not just a venue.

I'm perfectly fine with the big event atmosphere, but that has nothing to do with me going or not going to a race.
 
A market that wanted NASCAR to be there.

That was the reason why the banquet was moved to Nashville. Dates are not moved for the fun of it.

NASCAR WAS there, and they left for 35 years because A, they weren't getting along with the track promoter, and B, they they wanted to get out of the south. Bristol, came a heartbeat away from the same fate during the same period, for the same reasons. NASCAR could have stepped up and taken control of the track in 1985 for loose change and didn't do it, so them making goofy choices now to try and get back into that market is not going to gain any sympathy from me. I fail to see how making a five year commitment to the superspeedway helps the cause of a Cup race at the short track much at all, which was the point of the whole exercise as far as I'm concerned. Once again, if Nashville is such an important market, (and I'm not saying it isn't) why didn't they step in to keep the races at the superspeedway?
 
The ghost of Dale Sr

For some reason, I keep forgetting that there is only two people here that are allowed to have an opinion on anything. I saw a number of races there in Cup type cars (ARCA) as well as Trucks, and saw a bunch more (ARCA, XFINITY and Trucks) on TV, and while it's possible to get an interesting race once in awhile, it's generally been uninspiring at BEST. I feel the EXACT same way about Kentucky, which is a shame, because I love it as a facility, and it's close enough to me that if I thought the racing was worth a damn I would go there, but it isn't, so I don't.
 
NASCAR WAS there, and they left for 35 years because A, they weren't getting along with the track promoter, and B, they they wanted to get out of the south. Bristol, came a heartbeat away from the same fate during the same period, for the same reasons. NASCAR could have stepped up and taken control of the track in 1985 for loose change and didn't do it, so them making goofy choices now to try and get back into that market is not going to gain any sympathy from me. I fail to see how making a five year commitment to the superspeedway helps the cause of a Cup race at the short track much at all, which was the point of the whole exercise as far as I'm concerned. Once again, if Nashville is such an important market, (and I'm not saying it isn't) why didn't they step in to keep the races at the superspeedway?
Dover did not want to add anymore seating to the track at the time and they wanted a Cup event. Attendance was good, but it slowed quite a bit by the end and with Dover not getting the numbers they wanted... It led to them letting the track go in 2011.

At the same time, now that the climate has changed in NASCAR post-boom. I wonder if it can be sustainable with the Cup series now being on the calendar? We'll see, but either way I'm pumped about the new addition.
 
Without seeing a single cup race with the package they are running or the track prep they will use the R-F verdict is in. :laugh: Personally, I can't wait to see what they will come up with for the race. Most of social media has been positive about the change. Not that I would attempt to change any of the R-F experts, just saying.
 
My point about the superspeedway was simply that if NASCAR thought it was so important to have at least Xfinity and or truck races in that market, I'm quite sure they could have fashioned some sort of an arrangement to make it happen, up to and including just buying the track.
 
My point about the superspeedway was simply that if NASCAR thought it was so important to have at least Xfinity and or truck races in that market, I'm quite sure they could have fashioned some sort of an arrangement to make it happen, up to and including just buying the track.
Welp, the TRACK decided they didn't want Xfinity or the trucks, They were unable to obtain a cup date FROM Nascar. Get your story straight. And guess what, by eliminating one of their Dover dates, they have a cup date. BTW there are only so many cup dates they don't grow on trees
 
Without seeing a single cup race with the package they are running or the track prep they will use the R-F verdict is in. :laugh: Personally, I can't wait to see what they will come up with for the race. Most of social media has been positive about the change. Not that I would attempt to change any of the R-F experts, just saying.

Some tracks are just dogs no matter what you do. Kentucky is one, I think Nashville is too. Could I be wrong about Cup races there? Sure, but at least one accomplished NASCAR star sees it the way I do, so I don't feel I'm out on much a limb. Like I said in my first post, I don't remember ONE driver being sad when they no longer got to race there. The ONLY ARCA driver I knew that had anything good to say about the place was Chase Montgomery, and he practically lived next door to the track.
 
Some tracks are just dogs no matter what you do. Kentucky is one, I think Nashville is too. Could I be wrong about Cup races there? Sure, but at least one accomplished NASCAR star sees it the way I do, so I don't feel I'm out on much a limb. Like I said in my first post, I don't remember ONE driver being sad when they no longer got to race there. The ONLY ARCA driver I knew that had anything good to say about the place was Chase Montgomery, and he practically lived next door to the track.
So you are saying that your smarter than Nascar..got it.
 
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