IRNLS Sells Out Nashville
IRNLS Sells Out Nashville
Brian Moore
Associate Editor
For the second straight race, the Indy Racing Northern Light Series will race in front of a capacity crowd Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
Cliff Hawks, the track’s vice president and general manager, announced Wednesday afternoon that all of the race-day tickets for the Harrah’s Indy 200 had been sold.
“We are extremely pleased on how Middle Tennessee race fans have accepted open-wheel racing,” Hawks said. “I think the Harrah's Indy 200 under the lights has the potential to be a Tennessee racing tradition for many years to come.”
Bob Reif, the IRNLS’ senior vice president of sales and marketing and chief marketing officer, credits the style of racing and fan accessibility as a prime factor in the sellout.
“The Indy Racing Northern Light Series continues to gain more momentum with every event," Reif said. “We're pleased that Tennessee race fans have responded so well to our combination of total fan access and exciting racing that's second to none.”
Although race-day tickets are gone, fans wishing to attend the 200-lap race can still purchase standing-room-only tickets. The special section near Turn 1 offers limited visibility.
"We have no more seats available for the race," Hawks said. "Because of continuing demand, we will accommodate people who want to see the race, but don't have a seat."
On July 8, the IRNLS debut at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., also was sold out. It seats 75,000 fans, but more were reported in attendance despite temperatures reaching 100.
Nashville’s seating capacity varies from event to event, based on temporary seating, but it is believed that almost 32,000 tickets were made available for the IRNLS race.
The Harrah’s Indy 200 is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. (ET) Saturday and will be televised live on ESPN.