TeamBlueOval
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Number of posts : 1919
Location : VA
Registration date : 2009-01-14
 | | Subject: Memphis Shuts down Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:20 pm | |
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- Memphis Motorsports Park, which has played host to races in what is now the Nationwide Series the last 11 years and to Truck series races the last 12 years, is shutting down, parent company Dover Motorsports announced today.
NASCAR has agreed to move the previously scheduled 2010 races to other Dover properties – a second Nationwide event to Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis and a second Truck event at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.
Dover Motorsports had planned to sell the .75-mile track for $10 million to Gulf Coast Entertainment, but the deal announced in January fell through when GCE couldn’t secure financing. GCE had still hoped to buy the track once it acquired the financing, and the plan was for Dover Motorsports to manage the operations.
With no buyer ready to purchase, Dover Motorsports opted to close the track. Memphis Motorsports Park has approximately 20,000 permanent seats. Its Nationwide Series race last weekend– won by JR Motorsports’ Brad Keselowski – was not a sellout.
“This was a difficult decision for us, but one that ultimately was dictated by economics,” said Denis McGlynn, president and CEO of Dover Motorsports. “We greatly appreciate the many years of dedication shown by our Memphis employees and their efforts to make Memphis such a great destination for the racing community – from racing fans and drivers to sponsors, team owners and sanctioning bodies. For all concerned, including the Memphis community, it is truly sad to see Memphis Motorsports Park taken off the racing schedule. NASCAR has approved the realignment of our NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series events from Memphis Motorsports Park to our Nashville and Gateway facilities.”
The 2010 Nationwide race originally scheduled for Oct. 23 for Memphis will now be run on that date at Gateway. The Truck race originally scheduled for June 26 at Memphis will now be April 2 at Nashville, giving Nashville a Truck-Nationwide weekend the two days prior to Easter. ~Scene Daily | |
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