NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF-TV) — A sold-out crowd at the Tootsie’s Music City Showdown featuring the CARS Tour brought new hope that NASCAR could one day return to the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Energized race fans from across the country made a pit stop in Nashville and sparked conversations about keeping the historic track’s legacy alive for years to come.
Blake King is a local race fan who told us he remembers days when you could sit on the hill across the track and watch races for free. “I’ve been coming to these races since I was a kid,” King said.
Meanwhile, Christa Poore was like many who traveled from North Carolina, but says she’s been coming to races at this speedway longer than people like King have been alive. Poore says nothing has changed from what she can tell, and for some, that can either be relief or a problem.
This track has seen better days, but plans to modernize the space and add more seating to the grandstands have since spanned five mayors.
Mayor John Cooper appeared the closest to a deal in 2021 where Speedway Motorsports would help invest in renovations that promised to one day bring NASCAR Cup Series racing back to Music City.
The deal ultimately stalled by the time Cooper left office, but King says he’s convinced a NASCAR deal will only bring more fans to a track he believes could use the attention.
“If NASCAR actually came here, you could probably double this crowd here tonight,” King said.
As it turns out, NASCAR was not only watching, they were impressed.
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell was a guest on the Door Bumper Dealer podcast where he praised the CARS Tour for a successful event.
“We’d love to go there, but we were glad to see the CARS Tour go. Great crowd, which was awesome. So, hopefully that builds a little bit of momentum,” O’Donnell said.
Setting the pace for some of that momentum is one of the sport’s most influential drivers and CARS Tour co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. The NASCAR legend said he was more than happy to bring the CARS Tour back to the speedway, where they haven't hosted this race since 2021.
He said he always rested easy knowing Nashville’s charter protected racing at the track that’s meant so much to his career, but in the past couple of years, conversation around the city-owned speedway have veered in a much different direction.
“I know there’s some movement to try and make a change there. That’s quite scary,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
A coalition of neighborhood groups have rallied around possibly challenging the city’s charter in November with a referendum voted on by Nashville.
Some of the groups have said while they’re not against racing as it is, they’d rather the entire city vote on if we should consider replacing this track with something more neighborhood friendly.
Brian Bugbee made the eight-hour trip from Roxboro, North Carolina with what seemed like his entire family. He’s followed drivers on the CARS Tour at each stop but says there’s something special about the history surrounding the Fairgrounds Speedway.
Recent polls of likely Nashville voters have zigzagged back and forth over support for the track and Bugbee says if you don’t know why this place is so important then either stay in your lane or see it for yourself.
“I don’t like it a bit. If they don’t know the history of the track, they don’t know the history of the sport, they shouldn’t be making those decisions in my opinion,” Bugbee said.
Arguably the biggest challenge, however, comes from what was once what some considered one of the track’s biggest supporters.
Some have said Nashville SC owner John Ingram drifted from his promise to be a good partner of racing to later say that adding more seats on this grandstand would be a “recipe for disaster.”
Ingram clarified in a letter to the city suggesting that having to compete with another 30,000-seat venue next door would take a financial toll on the soccer stadium.
Groups in favor of preserving racing have since accused Ingram of bankrolling neighborhood groups who oppose NASCAR’s return.
O’Donnell touched on the controversy surrounding the fairgrounds, and acknowledged that Geodis Park and Ingram’s apartment complex nearby, left very little room for NASCAR’s proposed renovations.
“You know they built the soccer stadium and really right on top of the racetrack. Didn’t allow for a lot of movement and a lot of things going on. That was the first kind of red flag,” O’Donnell said.
Any other time, a red flag would mean stop everything, but not now. Not here.
A NASCAR return could one day mean louder cars, bigger crowds and tougher parking, but Earnhardt Jr. says with or without NASCAR’s boost, things like a sound barrier could go a long way.
Not just for the people who live nearby, but also for the fans who’ve made this track home.
“For me, it’s not necessarily NASCAR or bust. I think we have to make sure regardless of what goes on that this racetrack survives. I think there’s some middle ground there that everyone could come to terms with,” Earnhardt Jr. says.
A final hearing is scheduled for April 20 on a lawsuit filed by ex-driver Neil Chaffin, who is attempting to end a referendum effort before it begins. Chancellor Pat Moskal will decide if the referendum is valid. If approved, a coalition of neighborhood groups would begin gathering the necessary 50,000 signatures to put the future of the track to a vote in November.
If you have any questions or comments about the racetrack debate, you can email me at Levi.Ismail@newschannel5.com.
