UPDATE 2 8-23-2025: Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office clarified that no deal or announcement is currently planned regarding the Fairgrounds Speedway.
FOX 17 News first reported that there was a new agreement between Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Speedway Motorsports to revamp the Fairgrounds Speedway; however, that information was incorrect, according to the Mayor’s office.*
— Fox 17 —
UPDATE 8-23-2025: FOX 17 News has obtained exclusive details of a new agreement between Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Speedway Motorsports to revamp the Fairgrounds Speedway and return NASCAR racing to the historic Nashville track.
Features of the new agreement include: a $30 million bond; construction of a new grandstand to accommodate a maximum of 25,000 seats; at least one NASCAR race every two years, maximum sound levels lower than current standards, and a requirement that race cars be outfitted with mufflers for all non-NASCAR races. Other features of the deal include construction of a new 500-vehicle parking garage, with money generated by the garage going to the Metro Fair Board, along with $5 from every race ticket sold.
Speedway Motorsports, a major player in NASCAR racing, owns the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, as well as the Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon in Wilson County. SMI will have exclusive rights to develop the Fairgrounds Speedway footprint. The agreement requires Speedway Motorsports to guarantee any debt associated with construction. The contract is to include the track operator paying rent sufficient to make bond payments. The agreement also penalizes SMI if it fails to deliver promised NASCAR races. Races would be limited to 10 race weekends per year, and there will be a curfew for all non-NASCAR racing events.
— FOX 17 —
ORIGINAL POST 8-21-2025: On-again, off-again efforts to bring NASCAR back to Nashville after a multi-decade absence are back on again.
Jasper Hendricks, chair of the Metro Board of Fair Commissioners, told the Banner on Wednesday that a deal between Metro and Speedway Motorsports Inc. to overhaul the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and bring top-tier NASCAR races back to the South Nashville site is nearly ready to announce.
Hendricks, a supporter of racing at the Fairgrounds Nashville, said there would be more to share “over the next few days.”
…
Specifically, Hendricks said, the deal will differ from an earlier proposal because “there will be no financial obligation from the city.”
…Speedway Motorsports declined to comment. Norm Partin, a racetrack supporter and friend of Bristol President Jerry Caldwell, told the Banner he is “delighted” by the new proposal.
— Nashville Banner —