Should Nashville stay on the calendar?

[dataman1]

Please put aside OVAL versus ROAD COURSE debate for this thread. Forget the weather issue as well.

Did Nashville really exhibit what the ICS needs right now? Concrete track, one lane racing, etc.

Interested in hearing other's viewpoints.

[icehammer97]

No get it and for that matter Richmond off the schedule. Nashville made lapped traffic such a problem that the leaders were taking like 10 laps to lap a person who was clearly slower and Richmond is just too small for this many cars without fenders

[!!WALDO!!]

Keep it or lose me and others but it is gone and Toronto takes the date.

[NickFalzone]

As far as oval racing goes, the first 75 laps of Nashville were IMO some of the best of the season. However, I would not mind losing a shorter oval like Richmond. My only issue with Nashville is the constant weather problems, I'd like to see them move it to a different date. That said, I agree it's probably off the calendar for 09.

[usgrandprix]

Nashville is a great track to see a race live. It's my second favorite oval to go to. I don't know why, but the cars really look fast on that track compared to a place like Kentucky or Chicagoland when you are at those tracks live.

The racing was pretty furious on Saturday night. It finally reminded me of what IRL oval racing has been about for the past few years as they decided to put amatuer hour on hold for once and also abandon the first 75-lap cruise mode.

It's a bit of a technical oval and it's the Firestone home race. Firestone has been with AOWR when a lot of others have left for the cabs, so I say keep it. Plus the crowd has been pretty good and is seemingly growing--not the sort of people you want to abandon right now. It's a good place to have a presence while Kentucky seems less important with the midwest saturated.

I say look for other ovals to cut before Nashville.

[dataman1]

I did not realize this was Firestone's home base. That makes a difference in my opinion. Much like Nazareth did for Marlboro or Motegi for Honda.

[bblocker68]

Kill a cookie cutter bfore you turn out the lights in Nashville!!!! It reminds me a bit of a roadie, where you have to keep your momentum to be fast.

[use2know]

I haven't posted here is quite some time... so feel free to take this as a troll if you like. I would completely understand...

But I am hearing rumors that a possible Nashville "purchase" might be fairly far along... and if true, "turning out the lights on Nashville" just might be final outcome. (the rumor is that they desire the real estate... not the facility)

I know it sounds completely crazy and off-the-wall, so feel free to take this for what it is... a rather thin internet rumor by a nameless poster on a motorsports forum.

I do hope for the sake of race fans in the Nashville area that I am incorrect and this can be brushed off as nothing but meaningless internet chatter... but I feel pretty confident with my source.

[AussieV8]

To be honest, I think it's interesting to see a concrete oval on the calendar. IMHO it adds to the variety of the series. I also think Richmond is interesting.

Just need to improve the quality of drivers more than anything else. It's the bottom third of the field that lead to all the problems at small tracks like Richmond.

I actually think the lineup of ovals is pretty good this year. If they get rid of any oval, it should be from Kentucky, Kansas and Chicagoland. Those tracks are just too similar. I think they need to drop a cookie cutter or two and add an extra couple of classic CART road/street courses (choose from Cleveland, Road America, Portland or Laguna) in addition to Surfers and Long Beach next year. (ie: bring it up to 20 events).

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I did not realize this was Firestone's home base. That makes a difference in my opinion. Much like Nazareth did for Marlboro or Motegi for Honda.

Firestone clearly stated that while they are happy to have a race in the area, they wouldn't care if it was dropped as the overall success of Indycar is more important for them.

But here's the thing. According to TSO, Nashville pays very little sanctioning fee, about $750,000. Thanks to the merger, many tracks and promoters are lining up to stage Indycar races and they are willing to pay more, while the series is obviously looking at maximizing its revenue. Plus, there weren't any promotion leading up to last week's race, whereas, say, Milwaukee had tons of promotion.

On a racing note, I kinda liked what I saw last Saturday. I think it is a really challenging track and it makes the schedule more diverse. If it was up to me, I'd have less 1.5 mile tracks. Dump Homestead, Kansas and Kentucky instead, add New Hampshire and Las Vegas. That would make ten ovals, which seems to be what the series aims for in the long term.

[beachbum]

Nashville seems a case of two conflicting opinions. I have read a lot of posts from people at the track, and almost all claim it was a good, entertaining race with a lot of action. I watched on TV and saw none of that, so it was dull.

So, was it the race, or the crappy TV coverage? I blame the coverage, as they told the fan almost nothing about drivers beyond the top 5.

[nigelred5]

Nashville, meh, strange track for these cars, but I'll agree ,it can go, along with one or two from the Homestead, Kansas, Kentucky and Iowa list should go. I don't much care for Chicagoland either, but it serves a huge Chicago market presence. Richmond is Marlboro country, has been drawing increasing crowds and it essentially is the only IRL presence on the entire eastern seaboard. It stays. Kentucky IMHO is simply a track that should never have been built. Las Vegas? How many times have the combined Openwheel series tried it in LV? Phoenix is a classic open wheel track that they need to re-pair with the Copper World Classic and restore that traditional week of racing.
I'd love to see new Hampshire back on the schedule in it's place, and Indycars MUST return to Road America and Laguna Seca.

RA, LS, Infineon, Watkins Glen and Mid Ohio would be a great series of roadcourses in place of the boring cookie cutter ovals of Chicago, Kentucky, and Kansas.