Memphis

Nascar and Memphis just go hand in hand, good country music and the best sport in the USA! Memphis International Motorsports Park was founded in 1986 by Ed Gatlin, who, along with a group of investors, bought a 400-acre tract of land in northeast Shelby County, Tenn., and built a drag strip with an adjacent road course, a dirt track and go-kart track.

The drag strip drew the attention of the NHRA and was awarded a sanction in 1988 as the host site of the Mid-South Nationals. While the NHRA has 140 member tracks, Memphis is one of only 23 to host a national event, and one of only two to host night racing.

The entire facility was purchased by the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach in 1996, and in 1997 a .75-mile paved tri-oval was added on the site of the old dirt track, while a new dirt track was built on the site of the former go-kart track. The name of the facility was also changed, to Memphis Motorsports Park, and the tri-oval opened on June 5, 1998.

The following month, the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach was acquired by Dover Downs Entertainment Inc. On Sept. 13, 1998, before a sold-out crowd and a national television audience, the facility hosted its first NASCAR event, the Craftsman Truck Series Memphis 200.

From those humble beginnings, Memphis Motorsports Park has established itself as one of the most popular and versatile racing facilities in the country, hosting more than 215 events a year, including the best that the NHRA and NASCAR have to offer.