Nashville SuperSpeedway

So officially this will be part two of a new little series called Raysox's Racetrack Restorations! You've seen North Wilkesboro, and I'm gonna renovate some tracks on the computer to get some ideas done. I joke with my roommate, who is a huge NASCAR fan, that when we graduate we'll team up using his business major and my sport management major and get into the speedway business

So if you follow NASCAR, you'll know that the series schedule is packed with cookie cutter mile and a half tracks. They're decent racing, but about a third of the schedule is these tracks. Outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway, they all popped up or were renovated in the 1990s. It was a renaissance of crap, basically. In 2001, in the Nashville suburb of Lebanon, a 1.333 mile track was built. It sets itself apart from other tracks. For one, it has a concrete surface. It is also smaller than other mile and a half. The track hosted some minor league racing series over it's history, but in 2011 it shut down. Now I believe that if promoted right, any thing could be successful. So here is what I would do if/when I bought Nashville Speedway.

The track would be the same, there's nothing wrong with that. I believe NASCAR could make strides in the Nashville market, but what the track needs is some fresh buildings and tender love. Right now, the main grandstand is very small, way below expectations they had for the track when they developed it. I would make it so there's no bad seat in the house. There'd be a wide, tall grandstand stretching from turn 4 to turn 1. The infield would be completely redone. From the tunnel leading into the track, there would be exits to a camper area, and the main garage. Much like Indianapolis, this road would make a small highway in and out of the track. The RV section would mold to the area not covered by the infield roadcourse, which I did not change.

The garage area was a cool idea I had. One giant building. Stretching the length of pit road, it would have two wings of garages to house touring series a few times a week. The haulers would park on one side, and with openings on both sides, it would give cars easy access to go to the trucks, or the track. There would also be a media tower even with the start finish line, overlooking the front stretch and victory lane. To compensate for the blocked view, two giant video boards would be erected over the garages so the fans could watch from their seat. On summer weekends, these boards would double as a movie screen, a way to fill the seats and promote the track on weeks the track doesn't have events. Another addition to the track would be a small quarter mile oval in the infield. The track is probably too big to host weekly events like North Wilkesboro, so a small track that would bring fans on Friday Nights would be ideal.

Outside the track, there would be parking inside and outside the ring. On the backstretch, many fans could park and walk to their seat, or take a shuttle to the front. There would also be lights that would light up the track for those weekly races, and NASCAR events. Finally, two big welcome signs in the shape of guitars would welcome fans to the track near the tunnel.