Initial plans for a $25–30 million, 50,000-seat track in the Nashville metropolitan area were announced in November 1997 in a joint announcement between Dover Downs Entertainment (later known as Dover Motorsports) and Gaylord Entertainment (now known as Ryman Hospitality Properties). The goal was to return the NASCAR Cup Series to Middle Tennessee for the first time since 1984.
Site selection proved difficult. Developers sought a 1,200-acre plot within Davidson County but could not locate a suitable one, eventually looking outside the county. By mid-1998 the project shifted focus to Rutherford and Wilson counties. After substantial landowner opposition in Rutherford County, including refusals to sell approximately 230 acres, Dover Downs announced in October 1998 that the project would proceed solely in Wilson County. Wilson County officials approved the rezoning 22–3 on December 21, 1998.
Opposition continued in the form of a citizens group named County Residents Against Racetrack Havoc (CRASH), which sued Wilson County alleging zoning violations. An environmental analysis by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation found that construction of the 3,100-acre complex would seriously harm habitat of the endangered Tennessee coneflower. CRASH attempted to add environmental allegations to their suit; track supporters countered that the flower could survive construction.
The Wilson County Sports Authority, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and Dover Downs Entertainment agreed to raise $15 million for infrastructure improvements, approved by the Tennessee General Assembly in March 1999. The budget for the track itself reached $47 million. Gaylord Entertainment withdrew from the partnership in July 1999, though Dover Downs stated the project would continue. Groundbreaking took place on August 26, 1999, after the track was officially named "Nashville Superspeedway" the day prior. Construction finished in February 2001 at a total reported cost of $125 million for the initial phase. State Route 452 was built by the Tennessee Department of Transportation specifically to accommodate track traffic.
The primary circuit is a tri-oval measuring 1.330 mi (2.140 km) per NASCAR's official measurement, or 1.333 mi (2.145 km) per IndyCar's measurement. Banking is 14 degrees in the turns, nine degrees on the frontstretch, and six degrees on the backstretch. The complex also includes a 1.800 mi (2.897 km) road course using the infield combined with sections of the oval to form a roval, which first raced in July 2001. Early plans to add a drag strip, short track, and dedicated road course were ultimately scrapped.
The track opened to the public on April 7, 2001. The first competitive events were held on April 13–14, 2001: Ken Schrader won the ARCA Re/Max Series race and Greg Biffle won the NASCAR Busch Series event. Initial driver feedback was mixed; Todd Bodine and Bobby Hamilton cited a lack of grip, while Kevin Harvick expected grip to develop over time. Track management resurfaced a section between turns one and two in response. The first Indy Racing League event was held on July 21, 2001, with Buddy Lazier winning. Neither opening weekend sold out.
NASCAR awarded the track a second Busch Series weekend for 2002. The track subsequently hosted Busch Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and IRL events through the following decade. In October 2009, when Dover Motorsports closed Memphis Motorsports Park, the Truck Series date from Memphis was moved to Nashville, giving the track two Truck Series races.
The track gained unexpected cultural notoriety in 2011 when Joe Nelms, pastor of the Family Baptist Church, delivered an eccentric pre-race invocation that praised his family and multiple NASCAR sponsors. The prayer became an internet phenomenon, drawing criticism from ESPN reporter David Newton and praise from Bleacher Report writer Richard Langford.
By 2011 Nashville Superspeedway faced a combination of problems: $21 million in bond debt from a 1999 infrastructure deal, poor attendance, and the addition of Kentucky Speedway to the Cup Series schedule that year, which ended any realistic prospect of the track securing a Cup Series date. On August 3, 2011, Dover Motorsports announced closure for the 2012 season, with none of the originally planned ancillary facilities having been built. The facility then sat largely abandoned, with activity limited to occasional testing.
In May 2014 Dover Motorsports announced a $45.8 million sale to Nashville-based technology company NeXovation. The buyer's CEO, Robert Sexton, stated interest in making the facility run year-round for motorsports and technology events. The sale confirmation was delayed repeatedly, with the deadline extended at least seven times. In July 2015 NeXovation defaulted on the purchase, and Dover Motorsports reopened the sale.
In August 2016 Dover Motorsports sold a portion of the surrounding property to California-based development company Panattoni for $44.7 million. Panattoni redeveloped the land around the track into an industrial and distribution zone. A parcel of approximately 147 acres was finalized in March for $5.1 million, and a further 132-acre parcel was purchased in July of the following year for $6.37 million. The resulting Speedway Industrial Park opened in November 2018. Panattoni publicly denied any plans to revive motorsports activity at the track.
In June 2020 Dover Motorsports announced that the track would reopen to host the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021. Local Nashville media viewed the announcement as a surprise, noting the facility's distance from the metropolitan area. Dover Motorsports chose the Superspeedway over the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway because approval processes for resuming racing there were simpler. An inspection found the concrete surface in "phenomenal shape." Renovation costs were estimated at $8–10 million. In August 2020 Dover Motorsports appointed Erik Moses to run the facility. The first Cup Series race was held on June 20, 2021, with Kyle Larson winning the event.
In late 2021 SMI acquired Dover Motorsports for a total of $131.5 million, transferring ownership of the Superspeedway to SMI. In November 2022 Erik Moses stepped down as general manager to become CEO of the Fiesta Bowl; vice president of events and operations Matt Greci was appointed to replace him.
During the 2023 Ally 400, driver Ryan Blaney suffered a heavy crash against the track's inside barrier, which lacked a SAFER barrier. Blaney described the impact as the "hardest [hit] of my life." The incident drew criticism from NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer over the absence of proper barrier protection and reignited broader discussion about the safety of the Next Gen car, which had been in use since 2022 and had been associated with multiple injuries during its first year.
The Indy Racing League held annual events at the Superspeedway from 2001 until 2008. Negotiations for a 2009 renewal broke down by August 2008. After a long absence, IndyCar announced a return to the Superspeedway for 2024. The move came after construction at the New Nissan Stadium interfered with the layout of the downtown Nashville street circuit that had hosted the Music City Grand Prix since 2021, requiring IndyCar to relocate the event to the Superspeedway.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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