What Really Happened To Kentucky Speedway

Kentucky Speedway is a racetrack that opened in 2000 to host NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track closed in 2020, but most people don't know the reason it closed. I did some research and here's what really happened to Kentucky Speedway.

When talking about Kentucky Speedway, most people refer to the first NASCAR Cup Series race held there in 2011. That race was mostly known for traffic issues that resulted in several fans not being able to get in to the race, despite having already bought tickets. Kentucky Speedway also lost its IndyCar race after that year. Those things were a major setback for Kentucky Speedway, but that did not get the track shut down. Kentucky Speedway is located in a small city called Sparta, which is about halfway between Louisville and Cincinatti. Most people think Kentucky Speedway didn't survive because it's in a rural location, but that's not the reason. There are several racetracks across the United States that are in rural locations that have been around for a long time and will continue to be around for a long time. Attendance at Kentucky Speedway also started to decline, with seating capacity being slowly reduced over time as a result of declining attendance. Some people think declining attendance is the reason Kentucky Speedway shut down, but that's not the reason.

There's one thing about Kentucky Speedway that most people haven't taken into consideration when it comes to the track ultimately shutting down, and here's what I believe was the deciding factor in the decision to shut down Kentucky Speedway. What ended up being the final race held at Kentucky Speedway was in July 2020. This was right in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic, and the governor of Kentucky did not allow fans to attend the event. Many states allowed fans to attend sporting events in 2020, but Kentucky had some of the strictest covid-19 restrictions in the country. As a result, the annual NASCAR race at Kentucky Speedway was relocated to Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2021, as a result of Georgia not being so strict on covid-19 restrictions. Marcus Smith, the owner of Speedway Motorsports which owns both Atlanta Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway, as well as several other tracks, confirmed this during an interview on Dale Earnhardt Jr's podcast in 2021. If it weren't for that, it's possible that Kentucky Speedway could still be in operation to this day.

Kentucky Speedway has been closed since late 2020, but the track itself is still there. While it's technically possible that racing could return there someday, there are currently no plans to do so. Kentucky Speedway has the unfortunate distinction of being the only track in NASCAR history to have no fans in attendance at its final event, and it's all because of Kentucky governor Andy Beshear and his covid-19 restrictions. NASCAR isn't the only thing that Kentucky has lost since Andy Beshear became governor. Kentucky Fried Chicken recently relocated its main headquarters from Kentucky to Texas, let that sink in. Kentucky Fried Chicken is no longer headquartered in Kentucky. Companies like Papa John's and Ford Motor Company have also moved part of their operations to other states in recent years. I honestly can't blame any of these companies for leaving Kentucky in recent years, especially given how Kentucky has given Andy Beshear an unreasonably high approval rating.

Those who know me personally know that I'm not an Andy Beshear supporter at all, and that I've even considered relocating myself. The reasons why I've considered relocating include the fact that that my beliefs and Andy Beshear's beliefs on every single issue are completely opposite, and the fact that Kentucky has overwhelmingly approved of nearly everything he has done has basically been a slap in the face to me. I don't agree with every decision that NASCAR makes, but I agree with their decision to leave Kentucky when they did. Kentucky is my home state, so it will always be a special place to me. But I can't ignore the fact that Kentucky has basically lost its right to be taken seriously.

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