The Memphis International Raceway (more commonly known as MIR) was founded in 1986 by Ed Gatlin, who along with a group of investors, bought a 400-acre tract of land within the northeastern section of Shelby County, and built a drag strip with an adjacent road course, including a dirt track and a go-kart track. The facility opened in 1987 with a drag strip and road course. It includes a
tri-oval short track, built in 1998, which once hosted the
NASCAR Nationwide Series and
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, as well as an
ASA Late Model Series race. The drag strip hosts events such as International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) World Finals and Nitro Jam, Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA), HOT ROD Power Tour, Super Chevy Show, Fun Ford Series and Mega Mopar Action Series. The entire facility was purchased by the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach in 1996, and in 1997, a ¾-mile paved tri-oval was added on the site of the old dirt track, while a new dirt track was built on the site of the former go-kart track. The name of the facility was also changed to Memphis Motorsports Park and the tri-oval opened on June 5, 1998. The following month, Memphis Motorsports Park was acquired by
Dover Motorsports in connection with its purchase of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. Memphis Motorsports Park closed October 30, 2009, due to lack of finances. Its parent company, Dover Motorsports, Inc. announced that it was ceasing all operations at Memphis Motorsports Park and that it would not be promoting any events in Memphis in 2010. The Memphis facility was under an agreement of sale to Gulf Coast Entertainment but Gulf Coast was unable to secure financing. The track's Camping World Truck Series date was moved to
Nashville Superspeedway and its Nationwide Series date to
Gateway International Raceway, and later abandoned after a year. Dover Motorsports, Inc. auctioned off the complex on December 14, 2010, to
Palm Beach International Raceway for $1.9 million.
Palm Beach International years It was announced on January 31, 2011, that the deal between Palm Beach International and Dover Motorsports was finalized, and the track re-opened in April 2011. The track was also renamed to
Memphis International Raceway, and a new logo was created to reflected the change which adopted a similar theme with its sister track in Palm Beach. The track became sanctioned with IHRA, which has held the IHRA Nitro Jam finale at Memphis since 2011. In 2013, MIR gained more events for the park, including the 2nd annual Ford Fun Weekend at Memphis (was hosted at MIR in 2012 as well), and the Mega Mopar Action Series. This was the first year where the three major domestic manufacturers (
Chevy,
Ford, and
Dodge) held an event at Memphis in the same year under the new owners. The track also drew attention to the Mid South Region of
NASA, which uses the road course for track events featuring High Performance Driving Events (HPDEs), Time Trial, Wheel to Wheel Racing, and NASA-X autocross events. Retired NASCAR driver,
Rusty Wallace opened up his driving experience and go kart facility on the NASCAR Oval in May 2013. MIR also picked up the Xtreme Xperience Supercar venue which allows anyone to drive vehicles such as Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, and Audi's around the track for a fee. Its first event was February 9 and 10, but the event was prematurely canceled on the 10th due to weather. A make-up event was rescheduled for a Sunday run on October 20, 2013. The
ARCA series also made a return to the oval, making it the first racing event held on the oval since the new ownership in 2011. The Memphis 250 was held on October 26 with Brian Campbell being the race winner. The track was sold sometime around March 2022 and held its last event on June 17, 2022; as of June 2025, 3 years after its last event, the track (including the drag strip and paved oval) currently sits abandoned.
IHRA reopening As was the case with
Atlanta Dragway, the new International Hot Rod Association, now owned by Darana Hybrid electrical-mechanical contractor owner Darryl H. Cuttell, has been eyeing the property as an acquisition for the 2026 season. In November 2025, it was reported by the drag racing Web site Competition Plus that both Memphis and Commerce are being considered for the 1/8 mile drag racing series in 2026. The December 2025 issue of the sanctioning body's
Drag Review magazine showed the Millington circuit was a contracted track. On November 25, 2025, the IHRA announced a Perimeter Chassis Late Model series that would participate on the Memphis oval in October 2026. On December 11, 2025, during the Performance Racing Industry motorsport trade show in Indianapolis, the IHRA announced Memphis will host numerous IHRA events, including the IHRA Sportsman Finals from October 22–24, 2026 and the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series Finals from November 5–7, 2026. On December 23, 2025, the IHRA announced the acquisition of the circuit has closed and reconstruction would commence in 2026. ==Tracks==