Comments on: Looking Ahead To Chicago

By: Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:10:34 +0000

The track is so far out I’ve often plannned to hit an SCCA event or some road course track day only to wake up, be lazy and say nuts to it. If it was closer I’d be there much more often.

By: oilpressure

oilpressure — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:03:55 +0000

Firestone is based here in Nashville. Not only are they a great partner to the league, but for Nashville Superspeedway as well. The event was very well supported. They sold out virtually every IRL race here. The three remaining events this summer (two Nationwide races, one truck race) did not draw well at all, from what I understand since I didn’t go. As I said above, the local promoter is weak (putting it nicely) and the owners are in bad financial straights. They wouldn’t pay the normal sanctioning fee that all of the other tracks pay the IRL. They were very short-sighted and lost the event. Yet the IRL was made out to be the victim in the local media.

You’re about to make me get on my soap box. This is a hot-button topic with me. — GP

By: oilpressure

oilpressure — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:56:41 +0000

As much as I hate to admit it, Nashville Superspeedway is a white elephant. It’s pretty much a cookie-cutter, except for it’s distance (1.33 miles) and its surface (concrete). Building it that far from the edge of nowhere made no sense. I personally think that local management (Cliff Hawks) and corporate ownership (Dover Motorsports) will eventually be the undoing of that property. Yet it’s so far out — you couldn’t even build a mall there. No one would go. Just my thoughts…since you asked. — GP

By: redd

redd — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:50:08 +0000

I’m not generally a conspiracy theorist either, so I’ve been buying the company line from the IRL that they can only race where sponsor’s want them, and where the money is blah, blah…and that’s why they’re adding road/street and subtracting ovals. (Even though I understand Miller wrote something about a lack of money in Brazil.)

But then I thought about Nashville. Didn’t that oval have pretty good fan support? And a substantial sponsor (Firestone?) But yet that oval was wiped from the slate. Maybe the move to twisties is not quite as happenstance as it seems.

By: Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:38:08 +0000

So how would you describe our Nashville Superspeedway? Yes it’s concrete but it sure seems cookie cutter too being thrown up way out there, not having many events, boring Indy races and not being a driver favorite. Maybe it just sucks instead! I wish they had put a bit more thought into it.