NASCAR 2021+ Schedule

[dont care]

4 hours ago, hkynik_55 said:

You can go onto any social media post regarding the recent move and half the comments are somewhere along the lines of "I'm glad their coming to Nashville, but I wish it was the Fairgrounds.." Sure, the Superspeedway doesn't require as much updating, but more short tracks is literally all the fans want (and maybe road courses). That Bristol race on Sunday was great for all 500 laps. There were a lot of wrecks, passing, lead changes, and a fantastic finish. The Coke 600 at Charlotte the week before wasn't the worst race in my opinion, but you'd be hard pressed to find a good battle or any lead changes. Bristol is a short track and Charlotte is an intermediate. Personally, I think there is too much hate on mile and a halfs, but 90 percent of NASCAR fans will tell you they want more short tracks and less d-shaped ovals, so this announcement left many disappointed. 

 

Yeah, I think that too, especially with some drivers already saying it'll be slippery and hard to drive on. If anything, that will set this race apart from the others. Part of what makes Bristol so awesome is two or three grooves to race on. That high groove is faster on its own partly because of the concrete surface, but when the PJ1, a compound that creates more grip, comes in on the bottom, you see drivers pick both grooves. It is, as Kyle Petty may say, "incredible" to watch. If the Superspeedway has some sort of compound at some other groove that isn't the preferred way around, you may see some unique racing. It has been tried at other mile and a halfs, but none of those are concrete. 

 

Yeah, it is actually from this tweet where I got the whole SMI pushing Dover Motorsports to move their date to Nashville. I have no doubt that this will sell well, at first anyway. From what I've seen, everyone is happy in Nashville to get a race. Nashville is probably the perfect big "NASCAR city" that could stick with the likes of Charlotte, Atlanta, and Las Vegas. 

 

The thing I was really trying to say in my post was that this kills the Nashville Fairgrounds hopes, and it was a stupid move by SMI if they urged Dover Motorsports to put a race at the Superspeedway, because they already bought, manage, and own the Fairgrounds. If it is a hit, there is no reason for Dover Motorsports to move a race from there, no reason for NASCAR to ever taking a date away from Nashville Superspeedway and give it to SMI, and no reason for Tennessee to approve a tax to cover the cost of trying to renovate the Fairgrounds. If the Superspeedway goes over well, which I think it will for at least that four year contract period, there is no reason to sink money into a different Nashville track. The best racing track in the world could be sitting on the other side of Nashville, but if it doesn't have parking, independent funding, or capacity, there is no reason to abandon a track that is already making money for everyone and go spend money on a new one. If SMI blackmailed Dover, they are fools because it means their Nashville project is dead, and they may have to watch as another company takes their idea and runs with it. 

 

As far the fan in me is concerned with the announcement, I really couldn't care all that much. I'm excited to see the look and branding of a new race, being a big architecture and logo (who woulda thought) guy myself. I think there are good intermediate races, even if you get a dud sometimes. Nashville deserves a race to go to in their backyard, as well as St. Louis and Memphis finally having a drivable race to go to, about three hours away where the previous closest was probably Talladega at almost five hours away from each city. I think everyone is too negative already because its an intermediate (*ahem* Chase Elliot), and that if its not a short track it deserves to be burned, but there hasn't been a new track in what ten years? Still, the more business side of me, or more accurately "How do we make everyone (but the Nashville taxpayers) happy?" side of me, sees a missed opportunity to go back to the roots of NASCAR and bring a new short track to a market that thirsts for it.

 

I'm so glad this thread has such a vibrant discussion. I'm happy this many people care about NASCAR. 

Sorry but we don’t deal with generalities here. Saying “everyone” wants something then saying half the posts on social media say one thing completely destroys your argument. Even if it was half on a social media platform that is leaving a large portion of fans who haven’t expressed their opinion and could be only a silent minority expressing their opinion on a topic. The fact is Nashville Superspeedway is a ready made track in need of no renovations to host a cup race in its current state versus the Nashville fairgrounds that haven’t hosted a cup race in 45 years, and hasn’t hosted a NASCAR race in nearly 2 decades and is in no shape to run a race for any NASCAR race without serious renovations. It’s the same reason north Wilkesboro and rocking ham will never get a cup race again. They are money pits. As others have said the Superspeedway is concrete and not a “cookie cutter” and will be a change of pace like it was for the lower series when they raced at the track.

[hkynik_55]

2 hours ago, dont care said:

Sorry but we don’t deal with generalities here. Saying “everyone” wants something then saying half the posts on social media say one thing completely destroys your argument. Even if it was half on a social media platform that is leaving a large portion of fans who haven’t expressed their opinion and could be only a silent minority expressing their opinion on a topic. The fact is Nashville Superspeedway is a ready made track in need of no renovations to host a cup race in its current state versus the Nashville fairgrounds that haven’t hosted a cup race in 45 years, and hasn’t hosted a NASCAR race in nearly 2 decades and is in no shape to run a race for any NASCAR race without serious renovations. It’s the same reason north Wilkesboro and rocking ham will never get a cup race again. They are money pits. As others have said the Superspeedway is concrete and not a “cookie cutter” and will be a change of pace like it was for the lower series when they raced at the track.

I mean just saying, half the comments on a post where the other half is mixed with politics, people talking about last Sunday's race, and other random nonsense is a pretty big majority. We could sit here until Daytona is in the ocean and guess what the silent fans are thinking, but we know for a fact what the loud ones are saying. Do I think everyone hates the announcement? No, of course not because I said that plenty of times. That's why I said "90 percent" and "half", and while I said "everyone" while mentioning the negativity, I also said "everyone" while mentioning the positivity as well. Not trying to put opinions into a bubble, just trying to express the general comments instead of going through each point anyone could make. Besides, it's sort of easier to just say "everyone" instead of "the majority" or "some people".

 

I wouldn't generalize that Nashville Superspeedway needs no renovations. Associated Press has already reported the track is going to need "a modern makeover that would cost at least $8 to $10 Million." The place hasn't hosted a high level race since 2011. I would highly recommend a documentary about Nashville Superspeedway on Youtube to help be more educated on the state of the place.

 

As far as Rockingham goes, North Carolina has already proposed a gift of $8 Million for a renovation of the track and entertainment complex. The truck series and ARCA ran there not even ten years ago, and they were generally well attended events. The track has a 2020 calendar filled with races (that sadly seem to not be happening due to the pandemic). Rockingham is even in better condition than Nashville Superspeedway. Not saying it should get a date over Nashville, but Rockingham is far from a money pit and it already has state backing. I will agree with you, though, that North Wilkesboro is a lost cause for right now. The only way I see that place coming back is if it is rebuilt pretty much from the ground up. Dale Jr. and the head of SMI could barely clean it up well enough to get it up on iRacing.

 

Like I said before, it would cost money to get the Fairgrounds back, and really, it is not going to happen. In the first post on here, I said it wasn't going to happen, for now anyway. It's the fact that Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) owns the track (as well as current tracks like Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, etc), and has allegedly told the owners of Dover to go and test their market, pretty much making their property and plans impossible. I mean, look it up, those plans for Nashville Fairgrounds look incredible, and those plans alone generally cost thousands of dollars in fees to architects and city planners. In simple terms: SMI made an oopsie and I feel bad for them.

 

I said at the end of my last post that it could create some interesting racing, and I don't even mind intermediate tracks. Sure, I like short tracks better, but a concrete oval seems cool enough. You can't deny it was built around the same time as Chicagoland, Texas, Kansas, etc., and it follows the same sort of layout as them, but generalizing all those tracks as bad is wrong, and they all have hosted good races.