Nashville Superspeedway is a

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

complex located in

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 ...

, United States (though the track has a

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 the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

postal address), about southeast of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

. The track was built in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and is currently hosting the

Ally 400 The Ally 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway in Gladeville, Tennessee. 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 Se ...

, a

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

regular season event, 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 the

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 ...

. It is a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

oval track 1 miles (2.145 km) long. Nashville Superspeedway is owned by

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 ...

, which acquired the track’s previous owner

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 ...

in December 2021. Nashville Superspeedway is the longest concrete oval in NASCAR. Current permanent

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

is approximately 25,000, but will reach up to 38,000 for the

event in 2021. Additional portable seats are brought in for some events, and seating capacity can be expanded to 150,000. Infrastructure is in place to expand the facility to include a short track, drag strip, and road course.

History

At its peak, the facility hosted four major races each year: two NASCAR Xfinity Series races and two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races (one per year prior to 2010). The

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 of ...

Firestone Indy 200 The Firestone Indy 200 was an Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race held at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. In 2001, it marked the first American open wheel event in the Nashville area. In later years it was held as a Saturday n ...

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 Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...

. NASCAR continually showed little interest in staging a

race at the track. In October 2009, Dover Motorsports decided to close

Memphis Motorsports Park Memphis International Raceway (formerly known as Memphis Motorsports Park) was an auto racing park located near the Loosahatchie River in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, just approximately ten miles south of Millington, and a few miles ...

, 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 The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...

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 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 ...

(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.

Closure

Following sluggish attendance for major events and no prospects of gaining a Cup Series 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 was up for sale. The track remained available for private use, such as car and tire testing. The track also remained available, and has been used, as a filming location for various television and film projects. From 2012 to 2014, Nashville Superspeedway was used for testing by NASCAR teams before NASCAR banned all private tests in 2015.

Attempted sale

On May 29, 2014, it was announced that NeXovation, Inc. would be purchasing the racetrack and all assets and equipment from Dover Motorsports for $27 million. 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. The deal with NeXovation was ultimately canceled, though the company lost approximately $2.9 million in earnest money. 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 planned to convert the site into a distribution and logistics park, the primary usage of commercial real estate in the area. In 2018 the deal was reduced to a portion of the property only, with another being sold in 2019; Panattoni also held an option on an additional to be exercised before 2022.

Reopening and sale

On June 2, 2020, reports began to surface that Nashville Superspeedway would reopen in 2021 and would host a

race, with a date of Sunday, June 20. The race replaced one of the two races the series ran 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 yea ...

, which was also owned by Dover Motorsports. On June 3, NASCAR confirmed that the track will reopen to host a Cup race in 2021, replacing one of the two Dover dates. The track brought on sports management executive Erik Moses as track president in August 2020 ahead of the reopening. The race was announced as the

. On March 23, 2021, Goodyear hosted a tire test at the track. Each manufacturer was represented, with Christopher Bell (Toyota),

Chase Briscoe Chase David Wayne Briscoe (born December 15, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. He also owns a World of Outlaws sprint ...

(Ford), and

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

(Chevrolet) turning laps around the track. The inaugural Ally 400 was won by Kyle Larson. On November 8, 2021,

agreed to purchase Dover Motorsports for $3.61 per share in cash for an approximate total equity value of $131.5 million. The close of the deal was subject to certain conditions and was completed and closed by December 22, 2021.

Records

* NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: Aric Almirola, 29.557 sec. (161.992 mph), June 20, 2021 * NASCAR Cup Series Race:

Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champi ...

, 3 hrs. 30 min. 23 sec. (113.792 mph), June 20, 2021 * NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying:

David Stremme David Andrew Stremme (born June 19, 1977) is an American professional stock car racing driver. Early career Stremme was born in South Bend, Indiana. His racing roots can be traced back to Midwestern short track racing, where he followed in the f ...

, 28.811 sec. (166.561 mph), June 2007 * NASCAR Xfinity Series Race: ** 300 miles (2001–2011):

Scott Wimmer Scott Allan Wimmer (born January 26, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He has a total of six wins in the Xfinity Series. His brother Chris Wimmer competed in the Busch Series. Wimmer co-owns State Park Speedway in Wausau ...

, 2 hrs. 14 min. 12 sec. (134.095 mph), March 22, 2008 ** 250 miles (2021–):

Justin Allgaier Justin M. Allgaier (born June 6, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. He is the 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series champion a ...

, 2 hrs. 5 min. 44 sec. (119.319 mph), June 25, 2022 * NASCAR Truck Series Qualifying:

Erik Darnell Erik Darnell (born December 2, 1982) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the grandson of former USAC and NASCAR driver Bay Darnell, who also started three NASCAR races (including one for Holman Moody). Darnell formerly dro ...

, 29.601 sec. (162.116 mph), 2006 * NASCAR Truck Series Race:

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...

, 1 hr. 27 min. 55 sec. (136.459 mph), April 2, 2010 * Indycar Qualifying:

Scott Dixon Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has won the IndyCar championship six times: in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 202 ...

, 23.271 sec. (206.211 mph / 331.864 km/h), July 18, 2003 * Indycar Race:

Buddy Lazier Robert Buddy Lazier (born October 31, 1967) is an American auto racing driver, best known for winning the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and the 2000 Indy Racing League season championship. Lazier began his career in the 1980s by competing in such s ...

, 144.809 mph (233.047 km/h), July 21, 2001

Feature race winners

NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series

*2005: Race postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain.

NASCAR Truck Series

IndyCar Series

*2007: Race postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain. *2008: Race shortened to 171 laps due to rain.

References

External links

Nashville Superspeedway Official Site
* {{ARCA tracks Motorsport venues in Tennessee NASCAR tracks Sports venues in Nashville, Tennessee ARCA Menards Series tracks IndyCar Series tracks Buildings and structures in Wilson County, Tennessee 2001 establishments in Tennessee Sports venues completed in 2001