Dale Earnhardt Jr. has always had a soft spot for the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and will honor that enthusiasm by racing in its CARS Late Model Stock Tour event debut on April 11.<\/p>\n
He confirmed the widely accepted rumor that he would enter that event on Tuesday during the latest episode of the Dale Jr Download podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m racing at Nashville Fairgrounds April 11. \u2026 You know, I have a million things going on up here in my head? And looking around in there, I think it\u2019s April 11, and I\u2019m driving the Bass Pro Shops car at the Fairgrounds,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cYep, for the CARS Tour. \u2026 I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s anymore I need to say. \u2026 I\u2019m going to do a tire test here in a couple days so I\u2019ll have a better idea of how fast it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Earnhardt co-owns CARS Tour with fellow NASCAR luminaries Kevin Harvick, Justin Marks and Jeff Burton. It\u2019s largely considered the most prestigious regional short track racing series in the country.<\/p>\n
Marks, who has a residence in Nashville, convinced Tootsie\u2019s Orchid Lounge owner Steve Smith to serve as title sponsor for the event now called the Tootsie\u2019s Music City Showdown, which also includes a CARS Pro Late Model Tour race.<\/p>\n
NASCAR Cup Series races were held at Fairgrounds Speedway from 1958 until 1984. In the years since, it hosted the O\u2019Reilly Series and Craftsman Truck Series until 2000 and now a monthly racing program every summer.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s future, which could include a revitalization and Cup Series date under a plan proposed by Speedway Motorsports, or demolition as pursued by Nashville SC owner John Ingram, is still being deliberated by the local political process.<\/p>\n
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