Dover International Speedway renamed Dover Motor Speedway as part of SMI acquisition

Dover International Speedway is no more. Long live Dover Motor Speedway.

Wednesday saw Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) complete its purchase of stocks in Dover Motorsports, Inc., who operates the mile-long Delaware oval, at a per share price of $3.61. The move brings the speedway into the SMI family, though it means the number of independently-owned NASCAR tracks decreases by one. Much of the circuits on the NASCAR calendar are owned by either SMI or International Speedway Corporation, the latter of which is owned by NASCAR, with Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway being the only Cup Series venues not under either umbrella.

As part of the acquisition, Dover undergoes an identity change as “Motor Speedway” is adopted, which matches with other SMI tracks like Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Las Vegas, and New Hampshire. The track will also begin using the SMI logo, though the “Monster Mile” nickname is retained.

The rename is the third in the track’s history. From its opening in 1966 to 2002, it was known as Dover Downs International Speedway to reflect the Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment complex (now Bally’s Dover) in which the speedway is located. “Downs” was dropped after the complex owner Dover Downs Entertainment broke off the racing division into a separate entity called Dover Motorsports.

SMI also finalised buying Nashville Superspeedway, which will keep its name but also have a new logo. The track, which returned to the NASCAR schedule in 2021 after a decade-long dormancy, was also previously owned by Dover Motorsports. The return was made possible as Dover Speedway gave up one of its two dates to Nashville.

“On behalf of our company I’d like to thank Denis McGlynn (Dover Downs head) and Dover Motorsports for their cooperation and support through this process,” commented SMI CEO Marcus Smith. “As our acquisition becomes complete, we look forward to turning our focus toward engaging the teams at Dover and Nashville to produce exciting events for race fans in 2022.”