Gary Baker says Nashville Superspeedway could be saved

Nashville Superspeedway

Gary Baker, one-time operator of some of NASCAR's most successful racetracks, says Nashville Superspeedway could be revived and turned into a successful venue – and he might be interested in doing it himself. "If someone wanted to call and discuss it, I'd listen," Baker said in discussing the prospects of the Gladeville facility that is entering its fifth season of idleness. "Could the track be successful under the right conditions? The short answer is 'Yes.'" Baker said.

"The question is, can those conditions be met?"

The Franklin resident said he was contacted by Dover Motorsports five years ago when the parent company decided to sell the track after a decade of declining attendance. "I had some discussions with Denis (Dover Motorsports CEO Denis McGlynn) at the time, but shortly afterwards it was announced that someone else had bought the track," Baker said. That "someone else" was global technology company NeXovation, whose CEO Rob Sexton lives in Hendersonville. On May 29, 2014 it was announced that NeXovation was buying the track for $46 million, which included $18 million in Wilson County bond obligations. However, repeated deadlines for closing the sale came and went, and finally last fall Dover said it would entertain new offers.

In addition to the purchase price, Baker said about $4 million needs to be invested in a "reconfiguration" of the 1.3-mile track. "You basically need to tear it up and start over," he said. Baker, who has owned/operated NASCAR Cup-racing tracks in Nashville, Bristol and Atlanta, said from the start that the Superspeedway design was all wrong. While Baker is convinced the track could succeed under the right circumstances, he added that the "challenge is greater now ever." "It's a much more challenging environment," he said, referring to declining NASCAR attendance and withering corporate sponsorships. "There are a lot of uses for a racetrack besides racing," he said. "To be successful it would need to be a multi-use facility with other revenue sources in addition to racing." In addition to the main track, the original design of the Gladeville facility included a road-racing course, drag strip, dirt track and short track. The latter three were never completed. Lebanon Democrat