Nashville Superspeedway’s NASCAR Run Ends; Track Won’t Seek Races In 2012

Another NASCAR track is disappearing from the schedule.

Nashville Superspeedway announced Wednesday it will not seek any NASCAR races in 2012, citing economic concerns. Nashville’s departure from the NASCAR Nationwide/Truck calendar follows the recent disappearances of tracks such as Memphis, Gateway and, recently, Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis.

“The reality is, after 10 years of effort, we have to face the fact that without a Sprint Cup race and/or a significant change in the operating model for other events, we simply cannot continue,” track general manager Cliff Hawks said.

Attendance had been ugly at the 25,000-seat track for the past couple seasons, and hopes for a Cup race never materialized. Dover Motorsports, which owns the track, indicated it was impractical from a business standpoint to continue operating the facility.

“We are...at a juncture where we must evaluate all of our options for this track, including its possible sale,” said Dover Motorsports president Dennis McGlynn.

NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell said the sanctioning body was not concerned about the overall health of its support series despite the closures of several tracks.

“The schedules for these two series will remain strong, the racing will remain extremely competitive, and the development of future talent will continue to serve the sport well,” he said.

In recent years, the Nashville track was most known for a pair of incidents unrelated to the racing itself.

After a 2009 victory, Kyle Busch infamously smashed the Sam Bass-designed trophy guitar. And just a couple weeks ago, Pastor Joe Nelms had an unusual pre-race invocation before the Nationwide race.

Apparently, Nelms won’t get the opportunity for a repeat performance.