Nashville Superspeedway?

[PETSNKE]

Came across this event on motorsportreg.com but haven't seen anything anywhere else :confused:
https://www.motorsportreg.com/calendar/event.cfm?uidEvent=06D23923-0755-849D-FD0F32041E7F21A6

Anyone here run there before?
The thought of running just a oval sounds boring. Surely they put together a road course (roval) with some of the adjoining access roads. How are the transitions?

[MW03Cobra]

It should be a Roval. It will be a night run so it should be fun. I am the Director of the local SVTOA chapter and we hope to add a few "fun" things into the mix.

Hope you will come run with us!

[red05gt]

yes, It is a roval. I ran there in Sept. of 05 and it was a blast coming
off of the tri-oval onto the infield portion. The transitions can be a
little severe coming back onto the concrete portion of the track from
the infield and service road asphalt parts. Petsnake we ran at Putnam,
Autobahn and Gingerman the same events before.

[PETSNKE]

Petsnake we ran at Putnam,
Autobahn and Gingerman the same events before.

If I remember correctly we were the last men running at Gingerman last year in the July heat, are you coming back this summer? My first open track event was there back in July '04 and I remember it was sunny and in the mid 70s all weekend. Maybe we'll get lucky and have that kind of weather again this year.


I'm still considering the Nashville event, anyone have a map of the roval course? The map on the web site doesn't give me any idea of the track configuration.

[RMitchell12]

I'm still considering the Nashville event, anyone have a map of the roval course? The map on the web site doesn't give me any idea of the track configuration.

I've driven there twice, once during the Mustang 40th bash and then again at an SVTOA sponsored event. The road course uses most of the front "straight" of the tri-oval, and then a short section in the middle of the back straight.......rest of the time you're in the infield on on the pit road exit or entrances.

At the end of the front straight you transition from the banking down on to what is actually the pit road exit but instead of continuing back up onto the banking at turn 2 you make a sharp hairpin back into the infield. After two or three more turns you make a hard left onto the center of the back stretch for perhaps a quarter mile, then another hard left back into the infield. After two or three turns you enter a long sweeper in the turn 3-4 area of the main track. This turns out to be pit road entrance. As you approach the front tri-oval instead of continuing on into the pit area you transition back up onto the banking. At the end of the front straight you start over again.

Depending upon how brave you are on the sweeper approaching the front tri-oval, the Terminators will be running 125-135 at the braking point at the far end of the straight. I didn't push too hard on the sweeper because it's 80-90 mph and while I don't mind losing the rear end at 34 or 40 in the infield, but the thought of it coming around on me at 80+ was a bit unsettling. :)

Transitions onto and of of the banking can be a bit unsettling. Again, depending on how brave you are on the sweeper you'll be making the 3-4 shift near the point where you transition back up on the banking. The first time I ran there I made the mistake of throwing the shift just as I hit the transition. Let's just say the back end got squirrely for a bit. :bash: After that I made it a point to stay low until I made the shift.

You will use your brakes really hard here because there are 3 turns where you are running at relatively high speed when you hit the braking mark. You should start with fresh brake fluid and have an extra set of pads with you. Maybe even a set of rotors.

Enjoy

[red05gt]

Petsnake, Gingerman doesn't look likely, but I had a great time on
track running with you. We're doing Summit Point next weekend,
then Putnam two weeks later and Watkins Glen the first of June.

Are you running Putnam this year?

[PETSNKE]

Are you running Putnam this year?


Yes I am, but not till October with Ohio/IN NASA :frn:

[MW03Cobra]

I will see if I can find some pics of the Nashville track or get my hands on a map of how the course will be set up.

[RMitchell12]

I will see if I can find some pics of the Nashville track or get my hands on a map of how the course will be set up.

the easiest thing to do is google map Smyrna, Tn and then zoom in on the track itself. Select "satellite" rather than "map" and you'll get a high-res look at the track from directly above. It's easy to pick out the infield sections of the road course., especially if you zoom in real tight.

The north transition from pit road to the banking and the south transition from the banking back to pit road are clearly marked. If you look closely you can even make out some of the "line" through the curves on the infield section, where track is a bit more dark.

(Edit)

This link will take you directly to an overhead view of the track. Click it or paste it into your browser address box.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=nashville,+tn&safe=on&ie=UTF8&ll=36.04549,-86.404638&spn=0.00923,0.016158&t=k&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=1

(end edit)

[rheacerdave]

We'll be there this weekend for a time trials.

NashvilleRoadCourse.
Track
1.8 Mile Road Course
Oval is concrete, Infield is paved
Oval straights are banked nine and six degrees. Entrance and exit are smooth unless the driver has a magnetic attraction to the "big track" (common problem)
Grass separates the oval turns and the road course
Entrance to first 180 has pavement added to widen the turn
Side road at second 180 is closer to turn in reality and can be used for track out
The turns heading to Station 2 are uphill. The left at Station 2 is over the crest
Concrete curbing entering the buss stop section makes the entrance into 3 much faster than it appears
The buss stop descends into the infield and climbs back out
The normal start/finish will start and finish time runs
Timed sessions will consist of a full warm up and a full cool down lap.

I've been there 8-9 times with NASA, SCCA, SVTOA, and MCA (NASA ran there years ago). Couple of track days (40th and SVTOA), the rest road races or time trials events.
SCCA http://www.rivergate5speed.com/scca/timetrials/nashville05records.html
Track Records
Class Name Hometown Car Year Set Record Time
AS David Hester Dayton, TN Ford Mustang 2006 1:11.578
Lotsa fun. Hardest part is deciding how to come off front straight. Wait too long and you have a bounce as you go from oval to infield. Too soon and you waste time in a LOOOONG sweeper. Depends on traffic, but I've found waiting till you can see white blend line and aim for it. Some low HP cars can even stay on the apron down the front straight, but my car breaks the rearend loose as I cross the painted "Nashville Speedway" at start/finish (point of the TRI-oval).
http://www.rheacermotorsports.com/Nashville06/images/PICT0045.jpg
From SCCA SARRC weekend last year. http://www.rheacermotorsports.com/Nashville06/index.html

[93svtcobra]

As rovals go this is a REALLY fun track and surprisingly little to him.

Running under the lights is AWESOME!

hope to see a few people there!