The Champion’s Week festivities and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series awards are moving to Nashville for 2019, NASCAR announced Wednesday (March 6).
The awards, which include the formal presentation of, among others, the Rookie of the Year and Most Popular Driver Awards, will be held in downtown Nashville on Thursday, Dec. 5 at the Music City Center.
“Nashville’s energy, vibrant entertainment scene, and deep-rooted lineage in motorsports informed our decision, and we believe our fans and industry will embrace the move to the Music City,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps told NASCAR.com.
More Champion’s Week events will be revealed at later dates.
Nashville will be the third city to host the awards, which were first held in New York City in 1981. The event moved across the country to Las Vegas in 2009, where it has been held since.
“Nashville’s history with NASCAR is indisputable, and coupled with our event experience we are a perfect match for NASCAR Champions Week,” Butch Spyridon, president and CEO, Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, said. “We look forward to welcoming NASCAR back home to Music City.”
Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville hosted Cup Series races from 1958 to 1984, with two races per year from 1973 to 1984. Darrell Waltrip was the most frequent race winner at the track, with eight victories, followed by Richard Petty with seven and Cale Yarborough with six.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Regional, Local and International Awards ceremonies will be held at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 22-23.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
Put the fairgrounds back on the schedule and they might win back some of the core gray haired southern fan base they abandoned
Well at least Tennessee makes more sense than Las Vegas or New York.
empty mile and 1/3 superspeedway but hosting awards ? bring back some big time racing . track is very handy to three interstates and big airport .
I love Vegas, but Nashville makes a whole lotta sense. Hope it works out.