The Ally 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race at

Nashville Superspeedway Nashville Superspeedway is a motor racing complex located in Gladeville, Tennessee, United States (though the track has a Lebanon postal address), about southeast of Nashville. The track was built in 2001 and is currently hosting the Ally 400, ...

Gladeville, Tennessee Gladeville is an unincorporated community in Wilson County, Tennessee. The community is named for the surrounding cedar glades— a unique type of ecosystem that thrives in the thin or barren soil of south Wilson County. Gladeville is located ...

. The first race took place in 2021, the first Cup event in the Nashville area since 1984. The NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series host support races with the

Tennessee Lottery 250 The Tennessee Lottery 250 is a NASCAR Xfinity Series at Nashville Superspeedway. Traditionally held on Holy Saturday from 2001 to 2011, the race was removed when Dover Motorsports ceased operations of this track and Gateway International Raceway ...

and

Rackley Roofing 200 The Rackley Roofing 200 is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race held at Nashville Superspeedway in Gladeville, Tennessee. The race, which was previously held from 2001 to 2011, returned to the schedule in 2021 after ten years away. The event ...

, respectively.

History

The Cup Series last raced in the Nashville area in 1984 at

Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Nat ...

. Nashville Superspeedway, a oval in Gladeville near the town of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, opened in 2001 with the

NASCAR Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to ...

conducting the inaugural event. NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. was present at the track's opening on April 11, while Cup drivers Dale Earnhardt,

Bobby Hamilton Charles Robert Hamilton Sr. (May 29, 1957 – January 7, 2007) was an American stock car racing driver. A driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit and the winner of the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, Hamilt ...

Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...

, and Darrell Waltrip were honorees. Seating capacity was 50,000, which was not considered enough for a Cup crowd at the time, though Denis McGlynn of track operator

Dover Motorsports Speedway Motorsports, LLC is an American company that owns and manages auto racing facilities that host races sanctioned by NASCAR, IndyCar Series, NHRA, World of Outlaws and other racing series. The company was founded by Bruton Smith and has ...

noted in 1999 that the stands could be doubled or tripled should it receive a Cup race. The

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of thr ...

ARCA Re/Max Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

, and

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

would also race at the track during the 2000s. However, the superspeedway struggled with attendance and lost its NASCAR races after the 2011 season. Nashville's post-NASCAR use would be limited to

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driving experiences and car storage by Nissan as the manufacturer had a plant in nearby

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

; Dover Motorsports placed the track on the market and attempted to close sales several times but saw each attempted sale fall through. Starting in 2019 there was discussion that NASCAR would return the Cup Series to Fairgrounds Speedway, with

Speedway Motorsports Speedway Motorsports, LLC is an American company that owns and manages auto racing facilities that host races sanctioned by NASCAR, IndyCar Series, NHRA, World of Outlaws and other racing series. The company was founded by Bruton Smith and has ...

negotiating to promote the event; NASCAR's other major series, the then-Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series, had last run there in 2000. However, on June 3, 2020, in what was considered a surprise announcement, Dover Motorsports announced the superspeedway would join the Cup Series schedule for the first time in 2021, replacing a date at

Dover International Speedway Dover Motor Speedway (formerly Dover Downs International Speedway and later Dover International Speedway) is a race track in Dover, Delaware. The track has hosted at least one NASCAR Cup Series race each year since 1969, including two per year ...

on a four-year agreement. Nevertheless, negotiations continued for a race at Fairgrounds Speedway, possibly beginning in 2022. On January 19, 2021,

Ally Financial Ally Financial is a bank holding company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company provides financial services including car finance, online banking via a direct bank, corporate lending, vehicle insurance, mor ...

announced it acquired the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

for the race, dubbing it the Ally 400. The event was scheduled to be part of a tripleheader with the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series; the Cup Series race was broadcast on NBCSN. The tripleheader event returned for 2022, with the Cup race being broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and later on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

after a rain delay. In 2023, possibly due to the popularity of the 2022's event finishing under the lights, the event will become a night race.

Past winners

Multiple winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

References

External links

* {{NASCAR Cup Series races NASCAR Cup Series races Annual sporting events in the United States