Nashville got its miracle, now it needs a hero. Nashville Superspeedway announced it would not host any NASCAR Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series races in 2012, signaling its inevitable demise and quite imminent property sell off to developers.
That one hurt. While only 10 years old the concrete 1 1/3 mile track in Lebanon, TN had some nice history and great traditions, including the Sam Bass Gibson guitar awarded to each race winner.
We won't mention what Kyle Busch did to his when he won the Nationwide Series race in 2009.
But the city and its NASCAR fan base also found reason to smile when Davidson County citizens voted by more than a three to one margin to amend the Metro Charter and keep the fairgrounds? existing uses: a state fair, expo center, flea market and auto racing.
Except for northern Alabama, middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky race fans, particularly the older ones, few realize the potential impact and miraculous result of this vote. In constant danger of being razed for the past few years, one of the oldest and most regionally storied tracks in America has a heartbeat again.
Originally opened in 1904 as a 1 1/8-mile dirt track the paved, beloved .596-mile bullring was built in 1958 and hosted NASCAR Cup -class races from then through 1984. From '95 through 2000 the track also ran Nationwide and later truck races.
Then NASCAR left completely for a variety of reasons; none of which had anything to do with the actual race track, fan base or community support. Local racing continued through 2008 but the track closed for good in 2009, when the buzzards started circling.
The cost-of-everything-value-of-nothing bureaucrats have been trying to develop, sell or build something else on the valuable mid town real estate ever since. But in the past year, thanks to the support of racers like Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin and Bobby Hamilton Jr. plus Mike Curb and Scott Borchetta from the music industry and a real grass roots 'move to amend' effort, the tide has finally turned.
The fairgrounds track is now as politically protected from the greedy dismantle-and-destroy vultures as it will ever be.
Now it just needs a local leader or statesman or effective (and not crooked) wheeler dealer to bring the track back to full, thriving life again; e.g. an eventual return of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
(I know what you're thinking; but I swear I haven't been drinking any Tennessee sippin' whiskey or corn squeezin's, nor have I suffered some type of small aneurysm. Bear with me here.)
The bloom went off the cookie cutter mile-and-a-half tri-oval rose a long time ago and the most popular NASCAR races by far, among fans, teams, drivers and sponsors are the short track events; at Bristol and Martinsville, both half-miles, and at the three-quarter mile Richmond race track.
There will be no more short tracks built. There will certainly never been a new short track built in the middle of a major city -- especially one only only about four hours from the best NASCAR short track in the world.
But guess what. Waltrip, Marlin and many others always considered the Nashville track the best bullring in America. Better than Bristol. Hands down.
And NASCAR fans want more, not fewer short track races.
You want to talk history? Joe Weatherly won the first NASCAR race there, Richard Petty won nine times at the fairgrounds, Dale Earnhardt got a Cup win in a Ford (!) in Music City and Darrell Waltrip holds the all-time record for W's with 67 overall, including NASCAR and weekly modified or late model races.
After the recent vote that saved the fairgrounds from the bulldozers, some one or some Music City group has a chance to prove how great the racing this nearly 6/10th of a mile track provides.
I won't worry about the Sprint Cup date supply and demand conundrum yet or the relative ISC/SMI monopoly on events. If Nashville can't find a hero to champion this vision it's all moot anyway.
But if Music City CAN find a visionary who has the stick, connections and intestinal fortitude necessary to raise about $30 million for refurbishing, grandstand seating, garages, new lights, SAFER barriers, etc., -- about what former Tennesse Volunteer quarterback Peyton Manning makes every two years -- this dream could become a reality.
Far-fetched? Certainly. A snowball's chance in hell? Correct-a-mundo.
But as Robert Browning said, "A man's reach should exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for?"
Read More of Bill Tybur at his website: https://fmfl.net
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