Continued upkeep of the facility during the past nine years was vital to the track securing a NASCAR Cup Series date.
“We had some great folks here caretaking the facility when it was not being used for stock car racing,” Moses admitted. “I have some experience in what I call historic venues having been at RFK for 11 years, which was built in 1961, and the D.C. National Guard Armory, which is 70 years old.
“I know all about buildings falling into disrepair and how that exponentially affects your capital budget and the patchwork you have to do to keep them running. I don’t see that large-scale effort needed here.”
One of the track’s major selling points is obviously the entertainment culture of Nashville. With live entertainment venues, tremendous restaurants, hotels and incredible nightspots, NASCAR needed to get in on the action.
“It’s vitally important,” Moses said. “That view is shared by Nashville, Dover Motorsports, NBC and FOX. Everyone I’ve talked to around middle Tennessee shares that opinion. We are fortunate to have a destination city in our market and one that people want to come to anyway. We are giving them yet another reason to visit Nashville and middle Tennessee for all it has to offer. Now, it’s going to have a Cup Series weekend to offer as well.
“From what I’ve been told, moving Champions Week from Las Vegas to Nashville in 2019 really helped solidify the importance of getting back into this market,” Moses added. “The reception was fantastic, both by the city and from NASCAR. The drivers had a fantastic time here and that punctuated the need to put a race back here.”
Nashville Superspeedway has 25,000 permanent seats, but Moses said if ticket sales surpass capacity, another 5,000 to 10,000 seats could be added.
With a revamped NASCAR Cup Series schedule, NBC will take over the broadcast portion of the schedule beginning at Nashville on Father’s Day.
“It’s great fortune for us,” Moses said. “I’ve sold a half-dozen tickets myself in the morning we announced a Father’s Day weekend date to civic leaders around Nashville. It’s a fantastic day for families in and around middle Tennessee to bring them out here to a Cup Series race and to experience it.
“This is going to be historic,” Moses added. “It’s not like the opening of a track, but it is a reopening after a pretty significant time, and we want to treat it as such. This is a real opportunity for us to not only be part of Nashville’s present, which is really bright and very attractive, but also a big part of its future.”
Tennessee has a long history in NASCAR with Bristol Motor Speedway and the Nashville area has produced such NASCAR drivers as the great Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Hamilton and the father-son combination of Clifton “Coo Coo” Marlin and Sterling Marlin.
“This sport was born out of the southeastern United States and that cultural experience,” Moses said. “To be able to honor that history and continue adding to that history is really important for our sport. I think it’s important for markets like Nashville that have such rich history with the sport.
“There is so much pent-up demand here. I have talked to many, many residents around here that will talk about the hours they will drive to watch a race, whether it is Bristol, Richmond, Charlotte or Atlanta. We want to shorten the drive for them.
“We want them to come out here to Lebanon, Tenn., and see some racing in their own backyard.”
Fans of the NTT IndyCar Series will also flock to Nashville next season as the inaugural Music City Grand Prix will be run in the streets around Nissan Stadium on Aug. 8.