A potential race for either IndyCar or IMSA to be held in Nashville in 2019 isn’t happening, city officials announced Tuesday.
Via The Tennesseean, which was also first to report on the potential of the race itself outside Nissan Stadium earlier this summer, the potential race and city were dealing with both logistical and scheduling issues to make the event a reality.
“In the end, we just felt like there were just too many unanswered questions, especially in regards to the needed infrastructure and, quite honestly, just how do we work around this city’s vigorous special events schedule” Metro Sports Authority Director Monica Fawknotson told the sports authority board on Tuesday. “There’s just so much going on.”
IndyCar raced at the old Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.3-mile concrete oval, from 2001 to 2008.
The potential Nashville race for 2019 had some key people involved with the project, notably veteran Tony Cotman, NZR Consulting director who’s overseen a number of new track designs and serves as race director for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, but ultimately won’t happen.
But after IndyCar’s Boston fiasco for a race that was announced, then cancelled, in a sea of red tape and payouts to fans to refund tickets for a race that never happened, it’s probably better for this race that it never fully got off the ground in the first place.