Each year, NASCAR adds and drops tracks from its calendar, often dictated by the quality of racing and fan demand. Yet Kentucky Speedway has remained a peculiar case, not championed for thrilling competition, but remembered for controversies that have left fans convinced it has been left to rot.
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Situated in Sparta, Kentucky, the 1.5-mile oval hosted Cup Series races from 2011 to 2020, with the Trucks and Xfinity Series competing there since the venue’s 2000 debut and 2001, respectively. But traffic fiascos and a botched 2017 reconfiguration prompted officials to shift its Cup date to Atlanta, sidelining the $152 million facility. Today, it largely functions as a storage site for Ford’s surplus inventory, a reality that continues to irk NASCAR die-hards.
In recent months, Gallatin County Sheriff Bud Webster has reported a wave of trespassing incidents. Since June, more than 30 people have been arrested after so-called “influencers” broke in and posted videos online. Trespassers have jumped fences or cut through barriers, vandalizing the property.
While NASCAR and IndyCar no longer race there, the track still hosts smaller events and leases portions of its grounds to businesses. Sheriff Webster stressed that the speedway is private property, not abandoned.
Fans, however, have met that claim with sarcasm. One wrote on X, “Then start scheduling races again and use it to prove its not abandoned.” Another quipped, “Oh it nots abandoned? Have a race then.”
Others were blunt: “No series is going back to that track. It’s abandoned,” and, ““It’s not abandoned” Look at the state of that place, it’s not hosting racing any day soon.”
“More than 30 people have been arrested after officials say ‘influencers’ broke into the Kentucky Speedway and posted videos to social media. … The sheriff emphasized that the Kentucky Speedway is private property and is not abandoned.” – @WLWT https://t.co/5A3Xj1jNVI
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) August 20, 2025
The track’s downfall traces back to SMI’s 2017 redesign, which stripped it of its original racing character. The banking in Turns 1 and 2 was raised from 14 to 17 degrees, while the width shrank from 74 to 56 feet, attempting to mimic Darlington’s profile.
Instead of creating multi-groove racing like the old Kansas Speedway layout, the change funneled cars into a narrower, faster first half before forcing them into Turns 3 and 4, where entry bumps made higher grooves almost unusable. Even the PJ1 traction compound failed to revive the racing.
On his Actions Detrimental podcast last year, Denny Hamlin had also noted, “Kentucky’s still out there,” but admitted the facility “is definitely not top-notch” and would require extensive upgrades before returning to the Cup schedule.
But at present, neither the political appetite nor the financial resources appear to be in place to bring Kentucky Speedway back into NASCAR’s fold.
