The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • B4

4B THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020 THE TENNESSEAN Nashville Superspeedway in Glade- ville had hosted Cup Series and Truck Series as well as Indy- Car events since the incep- tion in 2001. That ended in 2011. The speedway site has recently been under renovation to transform 147 acres surrounding the racetrack into an auto industrial park. The racetrack itself is owned by Dover Motorsports. The superspeedway stretches across 1,250 acres in Wilson County and an ad- ditional 150 acres in Rutherford County.

a look at the timeline of the racing facility: April 2001 Dover Motorsports held its race at the track, the Pepsi 300, a NASCAR Cup event in the racing second-tier series. Roush Greg won. The IndyCar Series and Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series races debut- ed in July and August, respectfully. The former was the open-wheel race held in the Nashville area. The super- speedway also held lower-level ARCA and Indy Lights races.

June 2002 Nashville Superspeedway welcomed two Series races per season. The state supplied $750,000 in incentives via its FastTrack program. A second in- stallment was made during the 2003 season. July 2008 The IndyCar Series held its race at the track, the Firestone IndyCar 200 on July 12. Chip Ganassi Scott Dixon won at the track for the third straight season, the most wins in the history.

April, August 2010 Nashville hosted a second Truck Se- ries race in the same season at Nashville Superspeedway for the time, after Dover Motorsports closed the Memphis Motorsports Park in October 2009. The facility was the only racetrack on the au- to racing circuit hosting two Truck Se- ries races without a Sprint Cup Series race. December 2011 Dover Motorsports discontinued rac- ing at Nashville Superspeedway after decreasing attendance totals and failing to acquire a Cup Series race. The track became a race car testing site for manu- facturers such as Nissan, among others. May 2014 Dover Motorsports sold the racetrack and surrounding property to NeXtova- tion for $46 million, including $27 million in cash and an $18.8 million bond owed to Wilson County.

July 2015 After NeXtovation Inc. failed to pay its $1.5 million deposit owed to Dover Motorsports by an extended deadline of July 27, Dover reopened sale of Nash- ville Superspeedway July 31. NeXtova- tion had invested a reported $2.9 million in buying the racetrack. August 2016 Dover agreed to sell a phased-devel- opment portion of the speedway property to industrial developer Panat- toni Development Co. It was the second deal agreed upon between the two par- ties.

Panattoni originally had agreed to purchase the nearly space for $44.7 million, including $27.5 million in cash and acquiring $17.2 million in outstanding bond obligations. Panattoni soon announced inten- tions to begin transforming land sur- rounding the racetrack into manufac- turing facilities and warehouses for in- dustrial distribution. Dover, which still owns the racetrack, began to host Nissan to test its models at the speedway. March 2018 A Panattoni subsidiary purchased a 147-acre parcel of the speedway proper- ty for $5.1 million, paid to Dover Motor- sports, to begin its plan for industrial building use, available to interested lo- gistics companies. June 2020 News broke that Dover Motorsports will move one of its two NASCAR Cup Series races to Nashville Superspeed- way in 2021.

Nashville Superspeedway: Timeline, key events Drake Hills Nashville Tennessean USA TODAY NETWORK TENNESSEE The NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Nashville Superspeedway in Gladeville on April 3, 2010. The track hosted a NASCAR event since 2011. MARK FILE PHOTO 50,000, McGlynn said. any McGlynn said, very close to being The same be said for the Fairgrounds, and that discrepancy had to do with the superspeedway beating the other to this line. been working with Marcus and the team around the Kennedy said, Nashville Super- speedway also came up in conversa- tions with the group out at Dover.

And (we) thought, a better opportu- nity and an opportunity now as well to explore that in 2021. Trying to do it as quickly as possible, I think where we really looked at Nashville Su- Speedway Motorsports through championed publicly by Bristol Motor Speedway and general manager Jerry Caldwell made a $60 million pitch in May 2019 to Board of Fair Com- missioners that included upgrades to the racetrack, pedestrian tunnels and concourse as well as a seat expansion to increase the capacity to 30,000. Complications have been numer- ous, though, particularly the ongoing construction of a new stadium for Ma- jor League Nashville SC at the Fairgrounds site. In February, when the soccer club reached an agreement to begin construction after a tense im- passe with Nashville Mayor John Cooper delayed the project, Caldwell said in a statement that held meetings with Cooper and other city and had been asked to ate operating done everything we have been asked to do and have met with ev- eryone we have been asked to meet Caldwell said at the time. will continue to provide any assistance necessary as the city considers best for the future of the Caldwell respond to a phone message Wednesday.

Whether the are ultimately successful, the topic going away soon. Fans starved for big-time racing in Middle Tennessee will enjoy a meal, surely, at the super- speedway. But the preferred delicacy for many has and will continue to be the Fairgrounds. Drivers, for one, have been clamor- ing to run at historic short track. and the Fairgrounds spe- has to be in that top three places we should be trying to go Dale Earnhardt told The Tennesse- an in December.

We certainly want to see a track with so much histo- ry just become an After news got out about return to the superspeedway, Cup Se- ries driver Chase Elliott tweeted Tues- day night: snooze fest at that joint will put the nail in the of the fair- grounds. Reach Gentry Estes at nessean.com and on Twitter Efforts to bring NASCAR back to the Fairgrounds be stalled by it return to Wilson County. ANDREW PHOTO Fairgrounds Continued from Page 3B either. This is not I-40 Wilson County. farther out than that, a hefty hike from downtown, even on a slow day.

Plus, zilch surrounding the venue, entertainment-wise. Many have expressed the desire to have NASCAR back in Music City. But while the Superspeedway is in the Nashville area, not Nash- ville. If NASCAR was going to come back, surely it was going to be the Fair- grounds. Well, no, it turns out.

That had every- thing to do with Dover Motorsports and nothing to do with Nashville itself or the Fairgrounds or the reported ties to Bristol and Speedway Motorsports or the fact that the whole thing had be- come quite complicated. Remember Nashville new Fairgrounds stadi- um and the contentious negotia- tions with Mayor John Cooper that de- layed construction? Out in Wilson County, it sets up much simpler. This be a newly created race, and Dover had one to give from a 2021 Cup schedule that NASCAR al- ready had built (and going to add to on short notice). That organization could do with that race what it wanted, and, clearly, there was a thirst for NAS- CAR in the Nashville market that being quenched. As for the size, Dover Motorsports could do something quick- ly, like restore temporary seating.

But as NASCAR attendance has declined at many events, the growing trend is for smaller tracks. The company said last year that its Dover International Speed- way, in fact, was taking its capacity down to 54,000 from 83,000. While 25,000 might still be too small, not as small as it used to be. So ready or not, I suppose, all happening. need a spit-shine worthy of a lot of fresh paint, an ar- mada of lawnmowers.

Surprise! long-awaited reunion with NASCAR is here. Reach Gentry Estes at sean.com and on Twitter tes. Estes Continued from Page 3B.