Are you disapointed that Nashville Superspeedway isn't on 2009 IRL schedule??

Q: I thought Nashville was always a great race for the IRL season and has been good all 7 years they have been there. I am a big fan of the Nashville Superspeedway and hope they can make the facilities BIGGER with more seats for NASCAR Cup races in the Future.

A: To be honest, I'm torn on the decision. Nashville is an interesting track, esp. with the concrete. At 1.33 miles, it's a good size track for IndyCars to run at, and the concrete always makes for an interesting day of racing. It's also home to the N.A HQ of Firestone, which makes it a relative home race for the series. However, a few negatives exist. First, the track is WAY the ways outside of Nashville, and there are minimal ammenities near the track (ie, hotels, restaurants, etc.). It's a good 20 min. drive from the track to the city. Second, with the concrete, it unfortunately creates a one-groove race. The second groove never really comes into effect, which means the sweepers run a few laps to pick up the marbles, and the cars themselves are pretty much single file through the turns. I also think the track's run into a string of bad luck the last 2 years with rain, which could have hindered attendance. One last thing - when Firestone came on board in IndyCars, it was imperitive the series should be there. With unification, I think Firestone backed off on it's true desire to have a race at Nashville, understanding that expansion could lead the series to bigger/better places - all with Firestone tires. When I was there in '07, I thought the track was fun. The fans were into it. It was clean and relatively fan-friendly. So, I'm torn. While I'm excited about the new circuits on the '09 schedule, I think future schedule expansion should include consider returning, as I'm sure the IRL will do so. I guess the closest race for Nashville fans would be Kentucky Speedway, but to be honest - that's an outstanding track to attend an IndyCar race ... I know it's not the home track, but give it a shot - you'll be happy you did.

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