Ford is using the idle Kentucky Speedway as a storage facility. You can see the trucks in the parking lot around the highway from space.
Spartan’s Kentucky Speedway opened in 2000 and hosted NASCAR races on the track until 2020. The race track has been unused for racing, and its huge parking space is now being used by Ford after it canceled it from the 2021 NASCAR schedule due to a semiconductor shortage that has plagued the auto industry since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ford has been parking unfinished F150 trucks on the highway since the spring, and the number of trucks on the track has only continued to grow. Take a look at how many trucks are in the parking lot this month, and Ford is waiting to get the parts it needs to complete the trucks and ship them to buyers and dealers. As of this week, unfinished trucks took up most of the track’s parking spaces, according to satellite imagery.
Kentucky Speedway is less than two hours from the Ford Louisville Assembly Plant. The plant is the main production site for Ford trucks.
The automaker said earlier this week that more than 40,000 trucks and SUVs are currently unfinished due to a lack of parts. It’s not the only manufacturer facing the same situation. GM still has thousands of unfinished vehicles waiting for parts.
At least Ford is finding a use for Kentucky Speedway after NASCAR said goodbye to the Speedway Motorsports-owned track. Kentucky hosted the top-tier cup series from 2011-20, but struggled with attendance issues in the final years after severe traffic issues before and after the first few cup series. The track is located between Louisville and Cincinnati on Interstate 71, and there is only one major way to travel to and from the facility.
