Indycar moves season finale to Nashville Speedway
Recent questions regarding the health and future of the Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville have been addressed with the news that the event will move from its downtown venue to Nashville Speedway in September.
Scott Borchetta, the event’s primary sponsor through his Big Machine music and spirits company, and who will take over the operation moving forward, explains.
“Nashville is a world-class sport and entertainment market that loves its racing,” Borchetta said. “In its first three years the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix successfully established itself as a major event in Nashville and it has tremendous potential for growth, so I couldn’t be more excited to make this statement regarding its future.
“With construction set to begin for the new [Tennessee] Titans Stadium, the Grand Prix operations team knew they’d be faced with new challenges, knowing that the course used for the first three years would have to change dramatically for 2024’s race. With several key locations around the stadium not available as in years past, and with the proposed course change to run through the streets of downtown Nashville, (a big loop that utilizes the Korean Vets Memorial Bridge, First Avenue, Broadway, Fourth Avenue, and Korean Vets Blvd), we simply don’t have the proper space needed by the race teams nor the proper access for downtown businesses and residences to execute the world-class event that is expected by our amazing fans, IndyCar teams, and sponsors.
“With the significant challenges of the proposed new layout and unknowns with the new stadium construction, which has been the center of operations for the first three years of the Grand Prix, the decision has been made to move the 2024 race to the Nashville Superspeedway.”
Borchetta replaces Jason Rittenberry in the event leadership role, and hopes to have the Nashville Speedway Grand Prix return to Tennessee’s streets at some point in the coming years. The move takes IndyCar back to closing its championship on an oval for the first time since 2014 when Team Penske’s Will Power was crowned at Fontana in California.
“This has no bearing on our great relationship with the Tennessee Titans,” Borchetta said of the NFL team whose new stadium construction has taken local priority.
“The team’s management has been nothing but supportive regarding the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix and we fully intend to continue conversations with them and the City of Nashville as to when the right time will be to return to the streets of Nashville. We feel that we’ve landed on the best option for a great race experience, for both fans and race teams, by moving to Speedway Motorsports’ Nashville Superspeedway.”
For more information: www.racer.com
For more information: www.racer.com
