Martin Truex Jr., William Byron and Ross Chastain race three-wide in front of a packed Nashville grandstand
Throughout much of its early history, NASCAR racing was intertwined with the city of Nashville. The venerable Fairgrounds Speedway hosted all three of the sanctioning body’s top divisions with the Cup Series competing there from 1958 to 1984. But the city and the top level of the sport parted ways and remained separated for several years until 2021 when the NASCAR Cup Series returned to middle Tennessee by contesting an event at the Nashville Super Speedway.
Since then, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott have won the two Cup Series events held on the 1.33-mile track.
That concrete-surfaced facility held NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races from 2001 to 2011 but the Cup Series only made its debut at the track actually located in Lebanon, Tennessee two seasons ago.
During recent seasons, NASCAR has shown willingness to make changes to its schedule adding events in places such as Chicago and the LA Coliseum to broaden the sport’s reach and expose this form of motorsports to potential new fans. And to this point, that strategy has seemingly worked. One factor that helps to attract fans is the ability to draw celebrities from other sports and even from fields such as music, television, movies, and media.
With that in mind, there are few cities with the available star power to rival Nashville. Not only is there a plethora of high-profile people from country and all other forms of music but stars of television shows and movies also inhabit the area. From that standpoint, Nashville brings a lot to the table for NASCAR to take advantage of in terms of marketing possibilities to reach audiences that might not otherwise pay attention to the sport.
Finally, NASCAR has been accused by some longtime fans of abandoning the very fanbase that originally helped to build the sport. Even though Nashville is somewhat of a cosmopolitan city, it is close enough to the original base to possibly quiet some of those criticisms. Considering that NASCAR had a successful return to North Wilkesboro Speedway earlier this year, it does appear as if the Daytona Beach-based organization is trying to correct what some might have considered missteps.
On the other hand, NASCAR has something to offer the capital city of Tennessee as well. Although it is a city on the rise, there are some holes in the Nashville sports scene. Yes, the city has the Tennessee Titans from the NFL, the Nashville Predators of the NHL and MLS representative Nashville SC. However, there is no Major League Baseball or NBA presence in the town.
NASCAR brings another major league type entity that has the ability to attract attention, and perhaps even potential visitation. Major television and radio networks, print media, websites and virtually unlimited social media offer coverage of their events drawing eyes to the area.
Races in Nashville are good for sponsors as it provides an opportunity to not only expose backers to motorsports but also allows for a number of things to do away from the track. Few cities in America offer more entertainment fun spots than this one. Along that line, NASCAR brings many corporate types to its races which could benefit the host areas in numerous ways. It’s a win-win situation for all involved.
Of course, there has been talk of moving NASCAR back to the venerable old Fairgrounds but that would require a tremendous amount of upgrades which are, at best, years away. Even though the Nashville Super Speedway is several miles away from downtown, it is close enough to still be considered Nashville and close enough for patrons and those being courted to enjoy the area.
Nashville is a cool place to be.
Whether NASCAR remains at the Nashville Super Speedway or somehow returns to the more traditional Fairgrounds Speedway, it needs to be in this city. But at the same time, Nashville needs the presence of a major sporting organization to add more clout to its sports lineup.
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