A pair of local [Nashville] racers with longtime connections to Fairgrounds Speedway  Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Chad Chaffin  have been awarded a contract to lease the track and keep it open for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The state fair board awarded the lease to Hamilton and Chaffin on Wednesday following their bid that guarantees a minimum of $53,100 annually to the fair board. Their bid also has a minimum of $8,001 for each night race, with up to five of those races allowed each season. It also includes a guarantee of $1 per ticket for each day race with a minimum of two races required. Tony Formosa Jr., who operated the track last season, made a bid of $5,000 per race without a minimum guarantee. The lease calls for two of the races to be run on the same weekend that the flea market is held at the fairgrounds and one during the Tennessee State Fair. Chaffin said he is confident enough profit will come from the track to cover the guarantee. Formosa declined to comment on his bid and why he did not include a guarantee. Hamilton already operates two other tracks in the area  Highland Rim in Greenbrier and Riverview in Carthage. He said getting all three of the tracks in the area on a schedule that does not conflict with each other will be a key in growing the auto racing fan base, which will benefit each facility.(Tennessean)(4-21-2011)
