NASHVILLE, Tenn. — NASCAR is tentatively set to return to the Nashville market, but not at the track that everyone expected.
According to a report from The Tennessean on Tuesday, Nashville Superspeedway is tentatively slated to host the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time next season.
Dover Motorsports, which owns Nashville Superspeedway, which last hosted racing events in 2011, will move one of its two races from Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway to the 1.33-mile concrete oval located in Lebanon, south of Nashville.
Dover Motorsports Chief Operating Officer Mike Tatoian told The Tennessean the initial date for the event is June 20, 2021. However, Tatoian also indicated the date is “very tentative” and could change as NASCAR finalizes its schedule for next year.
Tatoian also indicated the track will also host other events in addition to the planned NASCAR Cup Series event.
Built by Dover Motorsports, the track opened in 2001 and has previously hosted the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series, among other touring divisions.
The facility hosted events annually through 2011, when the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series last competed there.
The report that Nashville Superspeedway could host a NASCAR Cup Series event next year comes in the midst of an ongoing effort from Speedway Motorsports to bring NASCAR racing to Nashville’s Fairgrounds Speedway.
Speedway Motorsports, which owns eight tracks currently on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, has thus far failed to reach an agreement to bring NASCAR to the .596-mile track that is a favorite among short-track competitors.
Track Enterprises was slated to promote events at the venue prior to the COVID-19 pandemic halting racing across the country.