MOBILE, AL :: In recent years, there have been those with political stroke in Music City USA who have worked tirelessly to demolish Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, hoping to bury the history therein with the construction of planned community centers, shopping malls and parking lots.
They must not succeed.
For those unaware, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville has been hosting motorsport events for over a century. The case could be made that the .596-mile oval is the most legendary short track in the entire world.
The home of the All-American 400 Late Model race, Nashville was once a stalwart on the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series schedules before a lack of improvements by the city forced NASCAR to relocate elsewhere in the earliest days of expansion and the bigtrackitis epidemic. But the history of the speedway goes back even further than that.
Its roots can be traced all the way back to an era of antiquity and purity to the Modfied Stock Car. In the simplest sense, Nashville is the Wrigley Field and Fenway Park of short tracks, and like both of those venues, the speedway must be protected, preserved and renovated for future use.
As it currently stands, the Davidson County property is the site of just as much political posturing as it is the three-wide racing that has made it one of the most popular tracks in the entire country.
The efforts to demolish the speedway has seemingly been spearheaded by Mayor Karl Dean, who has insisted that the rights of the nearby neighborhood must be considered when deciding the future of the property. This is the same neighborhood, mind you, whose inhabitants chose to move next to a race track that has been around decades before many of the residents were even born.
It’s worth noting that a good portion of the neighborhood actually supports the speedway, assuming that the city and board work together to modernize the admittedly run-down facility.
One of the anti-speedway residents, Eric Malo, was appointed to the Metro Fair Board by Mayor Dean this month in a clear attempt to unravel the Fairgrounds from within. That decision was vetoed by the City Council, something that has only happened twice in the history of metro government.
Another resident, Colby Sledge, is running for metro council this year and has been openly critical of the speedway and its continued operation.
The battle over Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville represents the continued eradication of short track racing. The track is a crown jewel of the discipline and losing it would be a devastating blow to an industry that is increasingly more about multipurpose entertainment rather than the on-track product.
Saving and eventually refurbishing Nashville would be a major step towards reviving short track racing at a national level. Unlike the similarly abandoned North Wilkesboro Speedway, Nashville is a major market venue and not in the rural smalltowns like Martinsville and Bristol.
It is a beacon of hope for Stock Car fans and it must be protected accordingly.
