Racetrack at Nashville fairgrounds awaits its fate: A critical vote will decide whether Nashville [TN] keeps its historic racetrack or demolishes it to make way for development. Although Mayor Karl Dean is delaying plans to relocate other events held at the city’s fairgrounds, he supports tearing down the racetrack in favor of a public park. Murky finances and unstable operations have plagued the Nashville Speedway for decades, but the issue of whether the track should stay open could be decided in 2011. Metro Council is considering a bill that, among other things, would clear the racetrack for a 40-acre park. The legislation is up for a public hearing and its second vote on Jan. 18. Demolishing the racetrack is the next step in Dean’s plans to redevelop the 117-acre fairgrounds property. Dean backtracked on his proposal to move the flea market and expo center to Hickory Hollow Mall but wants to move forward with tearing down the racetrack. Racing fans started a petition drive to save the track last year through Metro Councilman Duane Dominy, who collected more than 40,000 signatures. Current operator Tony Formosa, whose four decades at the Nashville Speedway include time as a driver, pit crew manager and promoter, said he believes the track is viable if an operator were to be given at least a 10-year lease. Formosa said the track’s long history and prime location in a major media market make it a desirable location. Only five races were held at the track in 2010, but Formosa said attendance averaged 6,500 people. There may not be a 14-acre stretch of land in the entire country with more racing history than the Nashville Speedway. Stock car legends such as Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip cut their teeth there, and generations of auto racing fans grew up attending races at the fairgrounds. In 1958, the Nashville Speedway hosted its first NASCAR event, and Music City remained a stop on the top stock car tour until 1984. That’s when financial problems for the track operator at the time caused NASCAR to pull out. When other cities built new tracks to attract major NASCAR races, Nashville’s future as a racing city was jeopardized. Some second-tier professional racing continued at the track until 2000, when the Nashville Superspeedway opened in Wilson County and NASCAR took its races there. Since that time, the fairgrounds racetrack has hosted amateur races.(Tennessean)(1-10-2010)
