NASHVILLE, Tenn. – NASCAR officials confirmed Wednesday that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series postseason awards banquet will move from Las Vegas to Nashville this year.
The news was made official after months of rumors regarding the shift, which brings the official crowning of NASCAR’s premier series champion back east for the first time since 2008.
While the full schedule of Champion’s Week events will be revealed at a later date, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards will be held on Thursday, Dec. 5, at the Music City Center in downtown Nashville.
Nashville marks just the third host city in the 39-year history of the Cup Series Awards.
“This year, we set a course to look at everything we do through a different lens, including how we celebrate the champions of our sport,” said NASCAR President Steve Phelps. “Nashville’s energy, vibrant entertainment scene, and deep-rooted lineage in motorsports informed our decision and we believe our fans and industry will embrace the move to the Music City.”
NASCAR’s postseason awards ceremony began in 1981 in New York City, for years held at the Waldorf Astoria New York in Midtown Manhattan. It moved to Las Vegas in 2009 and has been held there for the past decade.
However, this year’s move to Nashville brings a long history between NASCAR and the Music City back together again. Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville played host to 42 Cup Series races between 1958 and 1984, with a pair of events for the last 12 years of that tenure.
During that span, home-state favorite Darrell Waltrip won eight times at the Fairgrounds, including four in a row from 1981 to 1983. In all, Waltrip topped five of the final seven Cup Series races held in Nashville before the departure of the tour from the famed facility.
“Nashville’s history with NASCAR is indisputable, and coupled with our event experience we are a perfect match for NASCAR Champions Week,” said Butch Spyridon, President and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. “We look forward to welcoming NASCAR back home to Music City.”
“From the ‘Birthplace of Country Music’ in Bristol to the home of country music in Nashville, we join all Tennesseans in welcoming the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards Ceremony to the Volunteer State,” added Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. “Music City never misses a beat when hosting high-profile events, and every race fan will want to join in when the stars of NASCAR roar into town for this season-ending celebration.”
NASCAR also announced Wednesday that the awards banquets for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, as well as the NASCAR touring and international series, will move up and be held prior to the Cup Series awards banquet.
The Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series Awards will be held on Friday, Nov. 22 this year, followed by the Regional, International and Local Awards on Saturday, Nov. 23.
Both of those banquets will again be held at the Crown Ballroom of the Charlotte Convention Center, adjacent to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.