On-again, off-again efforts to bring NASCAR back to Nashville after a multi-decade absence are back on again.
Jasper Hendricks, chair of the Metro Board of Fair Commissioners, told the Banner on Wednesday that a deal between Metro and Speedway Motorsports Inc. to overhaul the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and bring top-tier NASCAR races back to the South Nashville site is nearly ready to announce.
Hendricks, a supporter of racing at the Fairgrounds Nashville, said there would be more to share “over the next few days.”
“We have known this administration will need to make a decision on the fairgrounds racetrack,” said Julie Smith, spokesperson for Mayor Freddie O’Connell. “We are focused on exploring all available options and the benefits they provide to Nashvillians and will continue to discuss with multiple stakeholders ways to improve the facilities at the Fairgrounds.”
Specifically, Hendricks said, the deal will differ from an earlier proposal because “there will be no financial obligation from the city.”
“I think people will be pleased,” he said. “They were able to address quite a few of the major obstacles based on the major concerns that we had, but there’s still a couple of minor details to work out.”
He acknowledged community concerns about the proposal.
“Not everybody’s going to be happy, because we got people who want to turn it into a green space, which we have a lot of green space already around the property,” Hendricks said. “I don’t understand how that would solve anything, and that doesn’t make money for the city. Those people probably won’t be happy. [Nashville SC owner John] Ingram probably won’t be happy.”
The green space advocates sought to beat the announcement of a new deal with one of their own. A coalition of speedway opponents, environmental groups and neighborhood associations launched a campaign on Wednesday to ask for a countywide referendum about the property. The Metro Charter requires that racing remain a use at the fairgrounds, a statute that has stymied past efforts to end such competitions at the historic track.
“The charter can be changed,” Heidi Basgall Favorite, a racetrack opponent and coalition organizer, told the Banner.
Citizen-led charter referendums have become more difficult since then-Metro Councilmember Bob Mendes (now the mayor’s chief development officer) spearheaded reforms to the process, significantly raising the threshold for getting a proposed change on the ballot. A group of racetrack opponents sought to put a question to Nashville voters last year that would have removed racing protections from the charter, but their efforts were held up by a legal challenge. The Metro Council could put a question to Nashville voters next year.
“Overwhelmingly, our community, as well as Nashvillians, want something else, and so I’m excited to try to have a different conversation,” Basgall Favorite said. “All of these priorities that Nashville has overwhelmingly expressed align with Mayor O’Connell’s. That site that is currently the speedway should be used for something that serves many communities, not just one.”
The group — which includes the urban design advocates Civic Design Center, neighborhood group South Nashville Action People and environmental group Cumberland River Compact — listed several alternative priorities for the property, including cleaning up Brown’s Creek, building out a new park and offering more affordable housing.
“Nashvillians have been clear: they want more affordable housing, more green space, and more walkable neighborhoods,” Councilmember Terry Vo said in a release. “That’s why I support exploring alternative uses of the speedway site, including the idea of restoring part of it to scenic green space — a place where families can picnic, children can play, and neighbors can come together.”
Supporters and opponents of the racetrack conducted polls about six weeks apart earlier this year. Polling from speedway backers shows overwhelming support for a proposed agreement for Speedway Motorsports “to preserve and operate the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.” Support increases with more information, including about the return of NASCAR to the track, the sound wall and no Metro financial obligations. Opponents’ polling shows more or less the opposite, with opposition to renovating the track and bringing NASCAR back outpacing support. When opponents’ pollsters asked about alternatives like housing or parks, opposition to the track proposal increased.
Hart Research conducted the poll for the track supporters, with 600 respondents and a margin of error of 4.1 percent. GBAO did the poll for the opponents, also with 600 respondents and a 4 percent margin of error.
O’Connell’s public stance on the racetrack shifted during his run for mayor in 2022 and 2023. He went from saying “accepting another offer from the [Convention and Visitors Corp.] and state for a tourism-focused endeavor at a local public facility is not my priority” to saying “the question going forward is going to be how to honor the speedway, make responsible investments and make sure we are addressing as thoroughly as possible community concerns.”
As he came into office, conversations with Speedway Motorsports, which operates Bristol Motor Speedway, continued, as the Banner reported in April 2024. Those conversations were delayed by the administration’s focus on the East Bank and the transit funding referendum.
“We’re currently obligated by the Metro Charter to maintain a speedway at the Fairgrounds site, and we’ve been talking to all comers about ways we can do that in a way that keeps pressure on the general fund at an absolute minimum,” the mayor’s office wrote to a racetrack opponent in a Tuesday email. “We’ll continue to do so. To date, despite years of discussion across multiple administrations, no one has initiated a referendum effort, and we can’t base Metro’s spending decisions on hypotheticals as the liability to fulfill our obligations increases.”
Speedway Motorsports declined to comment. Norm Partin, a racetrack supporter and friend of Bristol President Jerry Caldwell, told the Banner he is “delighted” by the new proposal.
“It makes the fairgrounds prosper and adds to the economy of Nashville,” he said, calling it a “no-brainer.”
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