NASCAR President Says a Return to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a “Weekly” Conversation
What’s Happening? NASCAR President Steve Phelps says that the sport returning to the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a “weekly dialogue”…
NASCAR legend Kenny Wallace is facing pushback for a recent video in which he said he thinks it’s time to give up on pursuing a Cup Series race at the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
This past weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, aside from the exciting racing on track, fans at home noticed the packed crowd the track drew for its sixth-ever Cup Series race.
The track, which sits over 30 miles south of Nashville in Lebanon, Tennessee, has a grandstand capacity of 25,000, though it appeared the additional grandstands added to the left and right sides of this permanent section were also packed.
While the track’s honeymoon phase in the sport may be over, the crowds seem to be holding steady, with the race confirmed as a sellout during the pre-race drivers’ meeting.
After the race, many fans and even a few industry members agreed that Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, located in Nashville, should be added to the schedule as soon as possible to capitalize on local excitement for the races.
Of course, that is easier said than done, as the track has been the focus of a local political battle with its future hanging in the balance.
Fairgrounds Speedway has not hosted the Cup Series since 1984, but that hasn’t stopped racing: the track hosted other National Series until 2000 and still hosts touring series like the ARCA Menards Series East and the CARS Tour, alongside local racing.
While it is a historic track, the battle between those worried about the noise of racing and those trying to protect Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway has raged on.
If the track gets a chance at new life, Nashville Superspeedway owner Speedway Motorsports has plans for a massive overhaul and modernization of the venue. Still, that is a long way away.
Though the track has support from a majority of race fans, NASCAR legend Kenny Wallace said during his Wednesday episode of Coffee With Kenny videos, that it might be time to give up on that dream.
Towards the end of that episode, Wallace made note of the large crowd at the Superspeedway, saying:
“Maybe we just need to forget about the Fairgrounds, because we’ve got all that land out there, we had a hell of a crowd, listen, we had 30,000 people at Nashville Superspeedway, I don’t think you’re ever going to fit 30,000 people into the fairgrounds. When I was leaving Nashville Superspeedway to go over to the Lebanon airport, there was a mile-long line. Could you imagine a mile-long line at the Fairgrounds?” — Kenny Wallace
While this was just a small blurb from that episode, it caught the attention of the broader NASCAR community and the short track racing community, with Matt Weaver of Short Track Scene, among many others, saying that Wallace’s comments would only fuel the fire lit by those opposing a Cup Series return to Fairgrounds Speedway.
In the face of this pushback, Wallace continued this conversation in his Thursday episode, adding that he was not sure how serious some of the track’s detractors were about ending any future racing at the Fairgrounds.
“Some of the people that do not like the Nashville Fairgrounds, I did not know that they’ve been getting aggressive and saying, ‘We want to tear down the fairgrounds,'” Wallace said. “That’s a game changer, and that pisses me off.”
Wallace added that his comments were meant to be in good fun, highlighting just how well the track was doing.
“My comment yesterday was fun-spirited. ‘Hey, you know, the speedway’s doing good, man, there’s 30,000 people out there, look at all the hotels they’re filling up, look at all the restaurants. It was a banger, it looked good,” Wallace said.
Still, he said his opinion was on the idea of the Cup Series racing at the track, saying he loves the track and that it still needs to host racing as a historic venue.
“You cannot tear down Nashville Fairgrounds. That is complete bullshit. . . So, when I said at the end, ‘Maybe we should just shit can Nashville,’ that meant a NASCAR Cup date. But we still need to be racing at Nashville, we still need the cars to go to the tour there, we still need some local racing.” — Kenny Wallace
Even with these notes about his opinion, fans will likely still disagree with Wallace, due to the prospect of the upgrades a NASCAR race date could bring to the venue, as well as ongoing discussions about the future of things like the NASCAR All-Star Race, which many think would be a great fit for the track.
What’s Happening? NASCAR President Steve Phelps says that the sport returning to the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a “weekly dialogue”…
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