FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway officials have named veteran event operations executive Blake Hardy to the position of director of operations for the Speedway Motorsports Inc. property.

The University Park, Texas, native comes to the 1500-acre motorsports facility with 25 years’ experience in live event operations with Feld Entertainment (Monster Jam, Monster Energy AMA Supercross), Live Nation, Clear Channel Entertainment, SFX Entertainment and PACE Entertainment.

Hardy was the director of operations with Clear Channel/Live Nation/Feld from 2004-2017 while based in Aurora, Ill. For the past two years, he has been the owner of Hard Line Event Productions in Aurora.

“Blake brings decades of experience managing high-energy and very successful live event operations to Texas Motor Speedway so I’m confident he’ll hit the ground running in preparation for our NASCAR playoff races the first weekend in November,” said Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway. “The 1500-acre facility hosts events and activities, large and small, year-round so the task of keeping it in top shape at all times is never-ending. Blake was the perfect candidate to lead the staff that carries out that maintenance and we’re happy to have him back in Texas.”

“My entire career has been spent in the live event/motorsports industry,” said Hardy. “It’s all about the fan experience, so I’m thrilled to be a part of a market leading TMS brand known for innovation and creating lifelong experiences worth remembering. It’s great to be back in my hometown, and I look forward to leading an experienced operations team into the future.”

Hardy and his family will relocate to the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.