NASCAR track making moves to host NFL team

NASCAR has proven the past couple of years that it can host a race at a football stadium.

Now a NASCAR track is going full speed ahead making plans to possibly host an NFL team.

According to Jacksonville’s News 4, Daytona International Speedway officials have been conducting studies on how the track can feasibly host Jacksonville Jaguars home games for a couple of seasons. The Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville are trying to reach agreement on a $1 billion renovation to the team’s home stadium, TIAA Bank Field.

Proposed work would take about 30 months, and the Jags would need an alternate home field for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. A report last month revealed the Jaguars had reached out to Daytona to consider the matter. The 2.5-mile speedway, built in 1959, hosts numerous racing events, but is best known as the home of NASCAR’s most prestigious event, the Daytona 500.

Speedway president  Frank Kelleher told News4 Jax that the two parties have been busy going over the details.

“Myself personally and our team, we’ve spent some time in Jacksonville meeting with their leadership and a variety of follow-up phone calls with architects and engineers and design firms, you know, really looking at our property, our footprint and understanding what is available,” Kelleher said.

Daytona has hosted other sporting events in the past, including soccer matches.

“So, it’s kind of gone from, ‘Yeah, I think we can do non-stick and ball sports at Daytona,’ to ‘Here’s images of what we pulled off and it was a world-class event on a world-class pitch,’” Kelleher said. “So, we absolutely have the acreage and I feel like we offer things that other venues don’t.”

NASCAR has hosted its preseason exhibition race, the Busch Light Clash, the past two years at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is the home field for the USC Trojans. The facility served for many years as home to the Los Angeles Rams.

[News4Jax; Pro Football Talk]