Nashville Superspeedway
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| Location | 4847-F McCreary Road Lebanon, TN 37090 |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 50,000 |
| Owner | Dover Motorsports Incorporated |
| Opened | 2001 |
| Closed | 2011 (remains available for private use) |
| Major events | NASCAR Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series, Verizon IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, ARCA RE/MAX Series |
| Tri-oval | |
| Surface | Concrete |
| Length | 1.333 mi (2.145 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | 14° |
| Lap record | 0:23.271 (206.214 MPH) (Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 2003, IRL IndyCar Series) |
Nashville Superspeedway is a motor racing complex located in Gladeville, Tennessee (though the track has a Lebanon address), United States, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Nashville. The track was built in 2001 and is currently closed to all competitive events, but has been used for driving schools and GT Academy.
It is a concrete oval track 1 1⁄3 miles (2.145 km) long. Nashville Superspeedway is owned Dover Motorsports Incorporated, which also owns Dover International Speedway. Nashville Superspeedway was the longest concrete oval in NASCAR during the time it was on the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series circuits. Current permanent seating capacity is approximately 50,000.[1] Additional portable seats are brought in for some events, and seating capacity can be expanded to 150,000.[2] Infrastructure is in place to expand the facility to include a short track, drag strip, and road course.
Contents
History[edit]
At its peak, the facility hosted four major races each year: two NASCAR Nationwide Series races and two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races (one per year prior to 2010). The IndyCar Series Firestone Indy 200 was run at the track from its opening until 2008. Each feature event was usually accompanied by a companion event from lower-tier series such as ARCA and Indy Lights. NASCAR continually showed little interest in staging a Sprint Cup Series race at the track.
In October 2009, Dover Motorsports decided to close Memphis Motorsports Park, and the Memphis Truck race originally scheduled for late June 2010 was moved to Nashville Superspeedway on April 2, one day prior to the annual Nationwide Series race at the track. The April Truck race was known as the "Nashville 200". Nashville Superspeedway became the only facility on the circuit to host two Truck Series races without hosting a NASCAR Cup event.
As is a Nashville metropolitan tradition, specially-designed Gibson Les Paul guitars are presented to race winners in place of conventional trophies. The track also has a reputation for producing many first-time winners.
The track is referred by the classic term of a "superspeedway" (a track of one mile (1.6 km) or longer, compared to a short track), and is named to differentiate itself from the .596 mile Fairgrounds Speedway (previously known as Nashville Speedway USA) at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville. Until 1984, Nashville Speedway USA had conducted a pair of 420-lap Cup races, but NASCAR pulled its sanctioning license from the circuit after disputes over who would manage the track took place prior to the start of the 1985 season.
Records[edit]
- NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying: David Stremme, 28.811 sec. (166.561) mph, 2007
- NASCAR Nationwide Series Race: Carl Edwards, 2 hrs. 18 min. 28 sec. (129.949 mph), June 9, 2007
- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Qualifying: Erik Darnell, 29.601 sec. (162.116 mph), 2006
- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race: Scott Riggs, 1 hr. 30 min. 34 sec. (132.466 mph), August 10, 2001
- IRL Qualifying: Scott Dixon, 206.211 mph (331.864 km/h), July 18, 2003
- IRL Race: Buddy Lazier, 144.809 mph (233.047 km/h), July 21, 2001
Feature race winners[edit]
NASCAR Nationwide Series[edit]
| Season | Race Name | Month | Winning Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Pepsi 300 | April | Greg Biffle | Ford |
| 2002 | Pepsi 300 | April | Scott Riggs | Ford |
| Inside Traxx 300 | June | Jack Sprague | Chevrolet | |
| 2003 | Pepsi 300 | April | David Green | Pontiac |
| Trace Adkins Chrome 300 | June | Scott Riggs | Ford | |
| 2004 | Pepsi 300 | April | Michael Waltrip | Chevrolet |
| Federated Auto Parts 300 | June | Jason Leffler | Chevrolet | |
| 2005 | Pepsi 300 | March | Reed Sorenson | Dodge |
| Federated Auto Parts 300 | June | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | |
| 2006 | Pepsi 300 | April | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet |
| Federated Auto Parts 300 | June | Carl Edwards | Ford | |
| 2007 | Pepsi 300 | April | Carl Edwards | Ford |
| Federated Auto Parts 300 | June | Carl Edwards | Ford | |
| 2008 | Pepsi 300 | March | Scott Wimmer | Chevy |
| Federated Auto Parts 300 | June | Brad Keselowski | Chevy | |
| 2009 | Pepsi 300 | April | Joey Logano | Toyota |
| Federated Auto Parts 300 | June | Kyle Busch | Toyota | |
| 2010 | Nashville 300 | April | Kevin Harvick | Chevy |
| Federated Auto Parts 300 | June | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | |
| 2011 | Nashville 300 | April | Carl Edwards | Ford |
| Federated Auto Parts 300 | July | Carl Edwards | Ford |
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series[edit]
| Season | Race Name | Winning Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Federated Auto Parts 200 | Scott Riggs | Dodge |
| 2002 | Federated Auto Parts 200 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet |
| 2003 | Federated Auto Parts 200 | Carl Edwards | Ford |
| 2004 | Toyota Tundra 200 | Bobby Hamilton | Dodge |
| 2005 | Toyota Tundra 200 | David Reutimann | Toyota |
| 2006 | Toyota Tundra 200 | Johnny Benson | Toyota |
| 2007 | Toyota Tundra 200 | Travis Kvapil | Ford |
| 2008 | Toyota Tundra 200 | Johnny Benson | Toyota |
| 2009 | Toyota Tundra 200 | Ron Hornaday | Chevrolet |
| 2010 | Nashville 200 | Kyle Busch | Toyota |
| Toyota Tundra 200 | Todd Bodine | Toyota | |
| 2011 | Bully Hill Vineyards 200 | Kyle Busch | Toyota |
| Deep Clean 200 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet |
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series[edit]
| IRL IndyCar Series history | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Date | Winning Driver | Chassis | Engine | Team |
| 2001 | July 21 |  Buddy Lazier |
Dallara | Oldsmobile | Hemelgarn Racing |
| 2002 | July 20 | Alex Barron |
Dallara | Chevrolet | Blair Racing |
| 2003 | July 19 |  Gil de Ferran |
Dallara | Toyota | Team Penske |
| 2004 | July 17 | Tony Kanaan |
Dallara | Honda | Andretti Green Racing |
| 2005 | July 16 |  Dario Franchitti |
Dallara | Honda | Andretti Green Racing |
| 2006 | July 15 |  Scott Dixon |
Dallara | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2007 | July 15* | Scott Dixon |
Dallara | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2008 | July 12* | Scott Dixon |
Dallara | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
- 2007 Race postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain
- 2008 Race shortened to 171 laps due to rain
Closure[edit]
Following sluggish attendance for major events and no prospects of gaining a Sprint Cup event, Dover Motorsports announced that the track would not seek NASCAR sanctions in 2012, effectively shutting it down, on August 3, 2011. In the announcement, Dover also hinted that the track may be up for sale.[3] The track remains available for private use, such as car & tire testing.[4] The track is also available, and has been used, as a filming location for various television and film projects. Since 2012, Nashville Superspeedway has been used for testing by NASCAR teams. As of 2014, there are no plans to bring any races back to the track.[5]
Sale[edit]
On May 29, 2014, it was announced that NeXovation, Inc. (http://www.nexovation.com) would be purchasing the racetrack and all assets and equipment from Dover Motorsports for $27 million.[6] However, the deal never materialized and Dover Motorsports reopened the sale of the track on July 28, 2015. NeXovation had invested $2.9 million (mostly nonrefundable) into the track, mostly in deadline extensions, and Dover pulled out of the sale after another deadline was missed and no payment was received.[7] The deal with NeXovation was ultimately canceled, though the company lost approximately $2.9 million dollars in earnest money.[8]
On August 25, 2016, Dover announced it had reached an agreement to sell the property to Panattoni Development Company in a $44.7 million deal. Panattoni plans to convert the site into a distribution and logistics park. The racetrack will initially be left standing but not operating. Panattoni is noncommittal about its future as a motorsports venue. It's unlikely the track will host any future race events. [9]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Welcome to Nashville Superspeedway
- ^ Welcome to Nashville Superspeedway
- ^ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dover-motorsports-inc-declines-2012-nascar-sanctions-for-nashville-superspeedway-2011-08-03?reflink=MW_news_stmp
- ^ https://twitter.com/Kreager/status/149929423511097344
- ^ Rickard, Caitlin (February 22, 2014). "Superspeedway still idling". Lebanon Democrat. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
- ^ "Agreement reached to sell Nashville Superspeedway". WKRN-TV. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
- ^ Humbles, Andy (July 31, 2015). "Nashville Superspeedway sale reopened". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
- ^ Ward, Getahn (August 25, 2016). "Nashville Superspeedway to be sold to developer Panattoni". The Tennessean. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
- ^ Ward, Getahn (August 26, 2016). "http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2016/08/26/distribution-park-planned-nashville-superspeedway-site/89371262/". The Tennessean. External link in
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External links[edit]
- Nashville Superspeedway Official Site
- Nashville Superspeedway Page on NASCAR.com
- 1tail Resource Database: Nashville Superspeedway
- 2008 Nashville Superspeedway Schedule
Coordinates: 36°02′40″N 86°24′45″W / 36.04442°N 86.41262°W
