IRL, Nashville fail to reach agreement on '09 race

GLADEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Indy Racing League won't be coming back to Nashville Superspeedway after efforts to negotiate an agreement for a 2009 race failed.

"Regrettably, the IRL has chosen to structure their sanction fees at such a level that we had no choice but to re-evaluate whether they fit into our plan," Cliff Hawks, the track's vice president and general manager, said Monday. "Regardless, we believe the IRL had no further interest in the middle Tennessee market."

The IndyCar Series had raced at the superspeedway the past eight years, including July 12 when Scott Dixon won a rain-shortened race.

The Edmonton Sun reported Sunday that Toronto would replace the Nashville race in an 18-race schedule in 2009.

The superspeedway is owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc., which had stopped running IRL races at its tracks in Delaware and St. Louis. Nashville had been the only concrete track on the IRL circuit, and drivers had been unhappy with the difficulty of passing on the 1.33-mile oval.

Nashville is scheduled to host two NASCAR Nationwide races and a Craftsman Truck Series race in 2009.