BusinessTN

It’s a muggy August Saturday night in East Tennessee. Some 160,000 screaming sports fans, pumped up from a weekend of tailgating, cram into a sold-out stadium. No, it’s not football time in Tennessee—it’s time for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR, Tennessee’s other sports obsession, attracts people from across the country to this town, quintupling its population and driving $80 hotel rooms up to $300 a night.

Dover Motorsports would like to bring the same kind of magic and cash as Bristol to the two Tennessee tracks it owns—the Nashville Superspeedway and Memphis Motorsports Park.

“For the Sharpie 500, visitors on average spend $795 each, which comes to more than $153 million,” says Beth Stockner, marketing and events coordinator for the Bristol Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). Surveys by the CVB show the indirect economic impact of the track—including dollars spent at stores and hotels, plus money generated when local businesses hire extra help for racing weekends—to be nearly $2 billion.

“Nashville is a top five TV market for NASCAR viewership, and the fact that we are located close to a city like Nashville, I believe, is a tremendous advantage for the facility,” says Cliff Hawks, general manager of the Nashville Superspeedway, which sits about 30 miles outside of Nashville proper, in Gladeville, Tenn.

Both the Memphis and Nashville tracks have permanent seating for 35,000 people. They share temporary seating for an additional 15,000-to-20,000 fans. It’s enough to attract Busch Series races, the Indy Racing League, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. With permanent seating for 160,000, Bristol has attracted two dates with racing’s crown jewel—the Winston Cup Series (newly named Nextel Cup)—one in August and one in March.

“The common question you hear is, ‘Why doesn’t somebody build another Bristol?’” muses David Poole, who writes about NASCAR for the Charlotte Observer newspaper. “The fact that it’s a half-mile racetrack didn’t make it what it is. It’s the atmosphere—a huge, football stadium atmosphere with race cars running around down there.”

In August, Bristol packs a NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series race, a Busch Series race, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and the Nextel Cup Series race into one week. “We want fans to feel like they’re missing out if they don’t come to all four races,” says Wayne Estes, vice president of events and marketing for Bristol Motor Speedway.

Still, it’s the big ticket that assures long-term success, according to Jason Rittenberry, vice president and general manager of the Memphis track.

“If you’re running a race track, that ultimately has to be your goal—to host a Nextel cup series event,” Rittenberry says.

Hawks says NASCAR has extended no guarantees, but he hopes the 1.333-mile Nashville track will “be successful in securing a Nextel date within the next three years.”

Poole, who has spent seven years following the NASCAR explosion, expresses doubts about Hawks’ goal. NASCAR, Poole says, “is looking to diversify” beyond the South and covets growth in the western and New York markets.

In the meantime, Rittenberry and Hawks are following Bristol’s lead, banking on the quality of the fan experience to bring in the money.

“I think any race fan who has been to the Superspeedway will tell you we have built much more into that ticket and the day than just the race itself,” Hawks says. “And, until we get a Nextel Cup series race, that is extremely important.”