Fairgrounds Speedway

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Fairgrounds Speedway
The Fairgrounds
see also "List of previous route names"
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Fairgrounds Speedway (USA)
Red pog.svg
United StatesUnited States Nashville , Tennessee , USA
Music City Motorplex.jpg
Owner: Tennessee State Fairgrounds
Operator: Joe Mattioli
Start of building: 1904 and 1958
Opening: June 11, 1904
Short track oval
oval
Route data
Important
events: 		All-American 400

NASCAR Busch East Series 150

NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour

Route length: 0.959  km (0.6  mi )
Curve superelevation: 18 ° curves, 3 ° straight lines
Audience capacity: 15,000
http://www.fairgroundsspeedwayatnashville.com

Coordinates: 36 ° 7 '50 "  N , 86 ° 45' 44"  W.

The Fairgrounds Speedway is a speedway on the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville , Tennessee . It is one of the oldest active racetracks in the USA . Between 1958 and 1984 car races of the NASCAR Grand National Series and the Winston Cup, today's Sprint Cup, were held here. As a special feature, the winners of larger racing series receive a guitar.

Route configuration

The speedway consists of an asphalt oval with a length of 0.596  miles or 0.959 km and a curve superelevation of 18 °. The straight lines are superelevated by 3 °. Inside this larger oval is a smaller oval with a length of 0.25 miles or 0.4 km.

When it opened, the route was still unpaved and longer. The conversion to a paved half-mile oval took place in 1958 when it was added to the NASCAR racing calendar. In 1972 the curves were significantly flattened from 35 ° to today's 18 °. Between 1995 and 1996 the racetrack was re-paved.

history

At the first event on the race track on June 11, 1904, horseless carriages and motorcycles were advertised. A total of eleven races should take place. However, the races on the 1.125 mile circuit were canceled after the seventh race after a motorcycle crashed into the back of a car that was about to start on the grid.

Another series of races was organized in September 1904. Many of the attendees came straight from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis , including one of motorsport pioneers, Barney Oldfield . The spectators could watch as cars drove over the route with more than 100 km / h.

From September 1915 on, events were held every year as part of the fair. Many of the drivers who also competed in the Indianapolis 500 came to Nashville for this.

Formalized races did not begin until 1948, when Claude Lampley and TI Albright were persuaded to allow cars to race on their Cumberland Speedway between the individual motorcycle races. This was the starting signal for races on Saturday night, which took place regularly on the three speedways in Nashville, the Cumberland Speedway, the dirt track on Cowan Street and the Motorplex Speedway. These races are also known as the "Legion Bowl".

After the importance of the Legion Bowl race steadily increased in the mid-1950s, the organizers wanted to build an asphalt racetrack. However, there was initially resistance from equestrian sports, which also held races on the Motorplex. After the Maryland Farms in Brentwood were built for them as compensation, the organizers received a ten-year lease in 1958 with a possible extension of 20 years for the State Fairgrounds. The old speedway was torn down and replaced by a new half-mile oval with an additional quarter-mile oval in the middle. On July 19, 1958, the first race took place on the newly constructed track. With the exception of major major races, all others took place on the four-mile oval.

The first NASCAR race of the Grand National Series took place on August 10, 1958. The first winner in front of 13,998 spectators was Joe Weatherly .

In the 1960s there were various changes to the racetrack. In 1965, for example, lighting was installed for the large oval and the races now mainly took place on this oval. In 1965 a fire destroyed the stands during the fair. New grandstands were installed in 1969 and the speedway was lengthened when the curves got a 35 ° cant. Another innovation of the 1960s was the introduction of races on Tuesday evenings.

At the beginning of the 1970s it turned out that the course was becoming too fast due to the strong cant. As a result, the cant was reduced to 18 ° in 1972. After a change of ownership, the new owner decided in 1979 not to organize any weekly races. But already in 1980 there were weekly races again. In 1984 NASCAR hosted the last race in the Winston Cup on the Speedway after a dispute between NASCAR and the city administration and the circuit operator. The so-called “Late Model Stock Cars” then drove as the new highest division in Nashville. Although initially little noticed, it gained importance from 1987 onwards. Later NASCAR drivers such as Bobby Allison , Sterling Marlin , Darrell Waltrip , Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt also drove in this series .

List of previous route names

  • Music City Motorplex
  • Nashville Speedway USA
  • Nashville Motor Raceway
  • Nashville Motor Speedway
  • Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville
  • Nashville International Raceway

present

In 1995 NASCAR returned to the speedway and hosted a Busch Series race every year . A Craftsman Truck Series race was added later. In 2001 the two races switched to the new Nashville Superspeedway . After the departure of the two divisions, races of the Busch East Series and the Whelen Southern Modified Tour of NASCAR will take place.

In 2004 the track in "Music City Motorplex" by the new organizer Joe Mattioli III. renamed, whose family also owns the Pocono Raceway and the South Boston Speedway .

The lease for the area around the racetrack expired in December 2008. The Tennessee State Fair Board hired a consultant to evaluate possible future uses. The route is now being operated again as a Fairgrounds Speedway.

See also