Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The track held

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Grand National/Winston Cup (now

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

) races from 1958 to 1984.

Track configuration

The speedway is currently an 18 degree banked paved oval. The track is long. Inside the larger oval is a paved oval. The track was converted to a paved oval in 1957, when it began to be a NASCAR series track. The speedway was lengthened between the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The corners were cut down from 35 degrees to their present 18 degrees in 1972. The track was repaved between the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

Track history

The track first featured "horseless carriages" and motorcycles on June 11, 1904, on a dirt oval. Races were canceled after a motorcycle ran into the back of a car that was lining up. Harness horse racing events were also held at the track. In September 1904 another series of races was organized. Most of the entrants came directly to Nashville from the 1904 World's Fair in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. Racing pioneer

Barney Oldfield Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was a pioneer American racing driver. His name was "synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". He was the winner of the inaugural List of American ope ...

was one of the entrants. People marveled at cars driving over . The track began holding annual events in September 1915 to coincide with the state fair. Many of the same drivers from the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

brought their cars down to Nashville. Local tracks sprang up and began running weekly Saturday night shows (collectively called the "Legion Bowl"), and the local racers competed at the track for the 1954 through 1957 State Fairs. In 1958 car racers decided to build a paved racetrack. The racers ended opposition from horse racers by building a horse track. The racers got a 10-year lease from the state fair board in order to build a paved mile track which shared the frontstretch with a mile track. On July 19, 1958, the first race was held at the new speedway. Races were held only on the mile track (except for special events). A 1959

NASCAR Grand National The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (the top NASCAR series, known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 and 1970, then the NASCAR ...

race of 200 laps in 1959 was unique; it was the first time an entire starting field (12 of 12 cars) finished the race, one of four instances it has happened in Cup Series history. That would not happen again until 36 years later, when the entire field at the 1995 Tyson Holly Farms 400 finished the race. The original cars (since 1948) were 1930s model cars called "Modified Specials". By 1964 the parts for cars were too hard to find, so the track changed to newer 1950s model cars called "Late Model Modifieds". Some of the early stars of the track decided to retire.

1960s

The 1960s also frequently brought drivers from outside Nashville, most notably the Alabama Gang. The Alabama Gang (from Hueytown, Alabama) included future NASCAR legends

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (December 3, 1937 – November 9, 2024) was an American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant ...

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the " Alabama Gang", and is the br ...

, and Nashville native Red Farmer. Coo Coo Marlin was the first back-to-back champion in 1965/1966. 1968 champion P.B. Crowell decided to retire, and hired the talented young

Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports Color analyst, analyst, author as well as a former national television broadcaster and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NAS ...

to drive his car. Country music legend

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

raced often at the track in his signature purple and yellow race cars. Several changes happened at the track in the 1960s. Lights were added to the mile track in 1965, and races in the main division moved to the big track. A fire burned the grandstands at the 1965 State Fair. Weekly Tuesday night races were added, and fans were awed by the crazy Figure-8 drivers barely missing each other as they crossed each other's paths. New grandstands were built and the track was lengthened (and banked to 35 degrees) in 1969.

1970s

The bankings in the corners proved to be too fast, so the banking was reduced to 18 degrees. The new ownership decided to hold not weekly races in 1979. The 1970s also featured talented drivers that would progress to NASCAR's highest division. Second generation drivers Sterling Marlin (son of Coo Coo) and Steve Spencer (NASCAR) Mike Alexander (NASCAR) (son of car owner R.C.) were all track champions. Alabama Gang member Jimmy Means took the track title home to Alabama in 1974 before he moved on to NASCAR's Winston Cup.

1980s

The track returned to hosting weekly races in 1980. In 1984, the top NASCAR series fielded its final race at the facility after disputes with city government and track management. The new headline division featured smaller Camaro-type bodies called "Late Model Stock Cars". The new division caught on slowly, and only 13 drivers competed in the first race. The division finally caught on in 1987. NASCAR stars that raced in 1987 or 1988 included

Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, winning the Daytona 500 in 1994 and 1995. He ...

, Mike Alexander,

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Superstar Racing Experienc ...

, and

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...

. Third generation driver Bobby Hamilton won track championships in 1987 and 1988.

1990s

The 1990 season was dominated by Jeff Green. Mike Reynolds won the 1991 track championship. Mike Alexander won the 1992 track championship. Chad Chaffin won the 1993 and 1995 track championships. Andy Kirby won the 1994, 1996, and 1997 track championships. Joe Buford won the 1998 and 1999 track championships. The

ARCA Racing Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nationa ...

held a 200-lap race in 1992. In 1995, the track returned to the NASCAR circuit, hosting a yearly Busch Series race and, later, a yearly

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

race. Those races would move to the new Nashville Superspeedway in 2001.

2000s

The track was renamed "Music City Motorplex" for 2003 by new promoter Joe Mattioli III, whose family owns

Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly known as the Pocono International Raceway in early years) is a tri-oval track in Blakeslee, Pennsylvania. The track has held a variety of events since its opening in 1969, including NASCAR, IndyCar Series, and IMSA GT ...

and South Boston Speedway. Music City Motorplex

The 2007 schedule featured races in NASCAR's two regional series, the Busch East Series and

Whelen Southern Modified Tour The Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams (SMART) Tour is a Modified stock car racing series racing in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of The United States. The series began in 1989, NASCAR took over the series in 2005. During ...

. In 2009, Music City Motorplex was to host an ARCA RE/MAX Series event on June 20, but it was announced on February 20, 2009, that the race would be moved to Mansfield Motorsports Park in

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in Richland County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 47,534 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located approximately from Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Columbus via Interstate 71, it i ...

. In 2009, the track's prestigious All American 400 was canceled and not rescheduled because of severe rain and political issues with Nashville mayor

Karl Dean Karl Foster Dean (born September 20, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 6th Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Nashville's Director of Law under Mayor Bill P ...

, who wanted the track and the Tennessee State Fairgrounds closed in order to redevelop the site. A ballot measure protecting the track was passed and the track continued to operate.

2010s and 2020s

The All American 400 was resurrected for 2012. It was cancelled in 2018, but returned in 2019. The CRA Super Series and Southern Super Series also race at the track. The

ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car racing, stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into ...

has visited the venue since 2015 with a 200-lap race titled the Music City 200. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series had a doubleheader race in 2019, with the quarter-mile track covered in dirt. In December 2018, then-track operator Tony Formosa Jr. reached an agreement with Speedway Motorsports and its main Tennessee track

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

to co-operate the facility and make the necessary upgrades for the track to host

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

and

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

races again and continue to host weekly racing events. Speedway Motorsports is in talks with Nashville council about bringing

sanctioned events back to the facility, as well as renovating the track. In December 2021, Speedway Motorsports reached an agreement in principle with Mayor John Cooper on a plan to revitalize and bring the NASCAR Cup Series back to the speedway.

Races

NASCAR Cup Series

The track held at least one Cup race each year from 1958 to 1984. A capacity crowd of 13,998 watched Joe Weatherly win the first NASCAR race on August 10, 1958.

Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Eli Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is an American former motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He raced at the NASCAR Cup Series from 1979 to 2011, earning 18 wins and a best season finish of third in 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1990. ...

beat

for his second career win in the last Cup Series event at the track, the second win for the upstart All Star Racing, now known as Hendrick Motorsports. NASCAR left the track because of a dispute over who would manage the track took place prior to the start of the 1985 season. Of the 42 Cup races, nine were won by

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most nota ...

and eight by

. Waltrip won five of the last seven races held at the track between 1981 and 1984. Waltrip's victory in the 1988 Busch Series event gave him nine total

wins at the track. Counting NASCAR, USAC, ASA, and local track races, Waltrip holds the all-time track record for wins with 67.

NASCAR Busch Series

The track held nine Busch Series races in 1984, 1988, 1989, and from 1995 to 2000. The track was replaced on the schedule by the newly opened Nashville Superspeedway for 2001.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

The track held five

events between 1996 and 2000, known as the Federated Auto Parts 250. It was held in August from 1996 to 1998 and in 2000 and in July in 1999. The track was replaced on the schedule by the newly opened Nashville Superspeedway for 2001. ; Winners * 1996: Dave Rezendes * 1997: Jack Sprague * 1998: Jimmy Hensley * 1999: Dennis Setzer * 2000: Randy Tolsma

All American 400

The All American 400 is a 400-lap, 240-mile super late model stock car race held at the Fairgrounds since 1981. However, some editions were shortened to 300 laps (180 miles), and others 200 laps, with the remainder being split for Pro Late Model classes since Super Late Models became the premier class. Originally it was co-sanctioned between the All Pro Super Series (later the NASCAR Southeast Series) and the

American Speed Association The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt a ...

. In 1991, the NASCAR Southeast Series took over the race until the 2000 edition. The race returned in 2003 as part of the ARCA/CRA Super Series, and has been promoted by variants of Track Enterprises since. ; Winners * 1981: Butch Lindley * 1982: Bob Senneker * 1983: Jim Sauter * 1984: Gary Balough * 1985: Rusty Wallace * 1986: Gary Balough * 1987:

* 1988: Butch Miller * 1989: Butch Miller * 1990: Gary St. Amant * 1991: Jeff Purvis * 1992: Jeff Purvis * 1993: Mike Garvey * 1994: Bobby Gill * 1995: Jeff Purvis * 1996: Wayne Anderson * 1997: Freddie Query * 1998: Freddie Query * 1999: Wayne Anderson * 2000: Mike Garvey * 2001-2002: ''Not held'' * 2003: Brian Hoppe (''Patriot 200'') * 2004: Chuck Barnes Jr. (200 laps) * 2005: Jason Hogan (200 laps) * 2006: Boris Jurkovic (200 laps) * 2007: John Van Doorn (200 laps) * 2008: Chris Gabehart (200 laps) * 2009: ''Not held (rain)'' * 2010: TJ Reaid (200 laps) * 2011: ''Not held'' (political issues with mayor) * 2012: Ross Kenseth (PASS sanction - 220/400 laps - rain) * 2013:

Chase Elliott William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Mo ...

(300 laps) * 2014:

John Hunter Nemechek John Hunter Nemechek (born June 11, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 42 Toyota Camry (XV80), Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. He is the son of NASCAR ...

(PLM -300 laps) * 2015: Daniel Hemric (PLM - 300 laps) * 2016: Bubba Pollard (SLM - 400 laps) * 2017: Donnie Wilson (SLM - 400 laps) * 2018: ''Not held (rain)'' * 2019: Mason Mingus (SLM - 400 laps) * 2020: Casey Roderick (SLM - 300 laps) * 2021: Matt Craig (SLM - 300 laps) * 2022: Stephen Nasse (SLM - 300 laps) * 2023: William Sawalich (SLM - 300 laps) * 2024: Jake Garcia (SLM - 315 laps)

Other races

The

first visited the Fairgrounds in 1992, then had an annual race from 2015 to 2019. The

ARCA Menards Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly known by other names) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Races are h ...

took over the date in 2021. The venue hosted a round of the

from 1998 to 1999 and then in 2003. The Hooters Pro Cup Series raced at the track in 2003 and 2004. Its successor the CARS Super Late Model Tour has an annual race since 2018. Superstar Racing Experience announced that their final race of the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

season would be hosted by the track. Guest drivers for the event would be NASCAR driver

Hailie Deegan Hailie Rochelle Deegan (born July 18, 2001) is an American professional auto racing, racing driver who competes in the 2025 Indy NXT driving for HMD Motorsports. She is best known for competing in NASCAR stock car racing, last driving the No. 15 ...

and defending Cup Series champion

List of notable weekly drivers

* Mike Alexander – 2 time track champion and current car owner * Casey Atwood – 1996 Rookie of the Year, former weekly competitor * Bunkie Blackburn – regular weekly competitor * Joe Buford – 4 time track champion * Chad Chaffin – 2 time track champion and current car owner * Mark Day – 2006 track champion * Jeff Green – 1-time champion * Clay Greenfield –

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series is ...

driver, competing in the Pro Late Model series and Super Truck series with two wins in 2019 * Bobby Hamilton – 2 time track champion (plus 2-time champion in a lower division) * Andy Kirby – 3 time track champion * Coo Coo Marlin – 4 time track champion * Steadman Marlin – Grandson of Coo Coo Marlin, son of Sterling Marlin, former Busch series driver, former weekly competitor *

– 3 time track champion, former weekly competitor *Steve Spencer – 1 time track Champion, Rookie of the Year, Tennessee State Champion, track record holder * Jimmy Means – 1 time track champion, former weekly competitor *Harold Ferguson – 1 time track champion, former weekly competitor * Jeremy Mayfield – former weekly competitor * Chase Montgomery – ran the full 2000 season * Deborah Renshaw – became the first woman to ever lead a NASCAR sanctioned series when the young woman climbed to the top of the points standings at Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville. *

– 2 time track champion

Use in gaming

The track was used in the Grand National Expansion Pack for Sierra's NASCAR Racing 2 game and was later converted for use in NASCAR Racing 1999 Edition, NASCAR4, NASCAR 2002 and NASCAR 2003. In October 2019,

iRacing ''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online sim racing video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tracks, and ...

scanned the facility to be added into their service for their 2020 Season 4 release in September 2020. The track is also featured in SRX: The Game, released in 2021.

References

External links

Official websiteRestore Nashville Fargrounds Speedway
from Speedway Motorsports
Nashville420.com – NASCAR Races 1958–1984Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway at Racing Reference
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