With construction planned on the Tennessee Titans stadium planned for September, the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix is coming to the Nashville Superspeedway.
“I think it’s a great addition to the county, no question,†Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto said. “It seems like we’ve attracted a lot of big things lately with the addition of the state fair. The speedway was already up and running and adding the grand prix to that is just another large attraction for a great quality of life for our people here.â€
Wilson County Joint Economic and Community Development Director Corey Johns is excited for the IndyCar series finale to come to a Wilson County track.
“The opportunity to align one of Wilson County’s strongest assets in the Nashville Superspeedway with the enthusiasm for the Music City Grand Prix and the immeasurable element of the man who discovered Taylor Swift, Scott Borchetta, all unite to create unique possibilities for racing fans and music fans combined, which couldn’t happen anywhere else,†Johns said. “We’re delighted at this news and excited to see what it can become.â€
According to Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell, the Nashville Superspeedway has made an effort to connect with Lebanon in the past through its yearly event on the square.
“It’s a relationship that’s beneficial to the city,†Bell said. “The more races that are at the speedway, the better it is for us. When there’s a race out there and ESPN writes a story about it, the headline is ‘Lebanon, TN.’ â€
Whenever a race comes to the Nashville Superspeedway, the city notices an uptick in sales tax revenues and business.
“Our hotel rooms are full,†Bell said. “There are people in our restaurants. It truly makes an economic impact and all of Wilson County for that matter. For the last couple of years, I’ve attended the race in downtown Nashville and it’s a great event. I believe at the Nashville Superspeedway it’ll be an even better event.â€
Hutto agreed with Bell that the race will benefit the county.
“It’ll definitely be a boost on hotel-motel tax, sales tax, people having their shops visited by the people that come into town for that weekend,†Hutto said. “We are really, really excited about this.â€
Hutto said that the superspeedway will be making preparations and communicating with the county.
“The good thing about this is the location of where it’s at on 840, the availability for the ease of traffic flow,†Hutto said. “The people at the speedway have proven that they can handle large crowds, and I think that’s another reason why it attracted this event. They will make all of those preparations and communicate with us if there’s any need on our side. There’s probably no expenditure on the county side.â€
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