Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville closing -- All American 400 tomorrow!

HoneyBadger

HoneyBadger

I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
91,395
Points
1,033
Location
A short track somewhere
Tomorrow night is the final running of the All American 400 and final race to be run at Nashville Fairgrounds.

Another great short track dies.:(
 
Didn't Bobby Hamilton Jr buy a track close to there? Maybe I'm wrong.:confused:
 
BobbyFord said:
Haven't you heard? The recession is over :sarcasm:
Hope and Change is secretly at work......
Click to expand...

I remember back in the 90s, there was a ton of Go-Kart tracks in my neck of the woods. There was three dirt track, and you can race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now there's only one dirt track and I don't know if they still race karts at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Which is sad because I spent my childhood at those tracks. :(
 
BobbyFord said:
Haven't you heard? The recession is over :sarcasm:
Hope and Change is secretly at work......
Click to expand...

This is not The Podium.:rolleyes:

I haven't read what led to the closing, but I know there's been talk about the track closing before the economy went sour. Has to do with idiots buying a house close to a racetrack and whining about the noise.

I seriously hate those people as much as I hate stink bugs. Don't ruin other peoples' pleasure because YOU were too f'ing STUPID to research what was around your house before you signed the paperwork! These people are trying to have Old Dominion Speedway closed, and that would be a tragedy since there isn't another track for me to go to for three-four hours.
 
It sounded like the Nashville Mayor had a personal war going against this place for some reason.

Speed51.com has uptodate updates on this race and they gave the email for the mayor directly to leave him a line about the track closing.
 
Which, btw, is extremely stupid. They're closing something that's making money for the city to spend a ton of money to build a park there which is going to cost the taxpayers millions of dollars plus millions of dollars each year to maintain/operate it.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.
 
Sterling Marlin to fight the closing of the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.....

From WKRN.com

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin could file a lawsuit as early as Wednesday to block Mayor Karl Dean's plan to shut down the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

"There is not a short track in the country better than this place and the powers that be just don't understand that," Marlin told News 2.

Marlin was at the speedway Saturday night racing in the 27th Annual All American 400, the final race at the speedway.

"My daughter races, my son races," Marlin said. "Hopefully we can save it and my grandson can race here one day."

The speedway opened in 1904 with horse races. In 1958, the dirt track was replaced with asphalt and car racing started.

For years, the raceway was part of NASCAR. Racing legends like Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty raced on the track.

Mayor Dean plans to redevelop the fairgrounds and close the racetrack. 2010 was also the last year for the Tennessee State Fair at the fairgrounds.

Last month, Mayor Dean laid out a proposal to turn about 40 acres of the fairgrounds bordering Brown's Creek into a green park space.

The mayor has not decided what will go in the park, but said there will be public meetings.

Mark Melman has come to the race track for 30 years. It's a tradition that grew along with his family. His wife and daughter also attend races.

"It's a good family oriented place," Melman said. "Everything is good, the security is great."

Melman has written letters to the editors protesting the plan to close the racetrack. He also helped organize a petition to show support for keeping the track open.

"I think the mayor is wrong. This is a historical place," Melvin told News 2. "Racing needs to continue this is all historical."

Public Information Coordinator for the All American 400 Donnie Redd equates closing the race track to losing a valuable piece of country music history.

"This is the Ryman Auditorium of stock racing," Redd said. "Like if you tear down the Ryman Auditorium, this is to us what the Ryman is to country music."

Redd organized the "Save Nashville Speedway" campaign, which includes a blog and online petition.

"It's one thing about fairgrounds speedway we are all family. We all consider each other family," Redd said.

Marlin said closing the speedway is a bad financial move for Nashville, because the races and accompanying flea market generates revenue for the city.

"I can't see tearing it down, spending the taxpayers' money for parks and green space," he said.

Marlin added, "You got plenty of room on both ends to build the parks, just leave us alone."

Racing fans did receive some good news over the weekend.

NASCAR driver Bobby Hamilton, Jr. announced he bought the Riverview Speedway Park in Carthage.

The speedway is currently under renovation and the first race is scheduled for October 11.
Click to expand...
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
From WKRN.comMarlin said closing the speedway is a bad financial move for Nashville, because the races and accompanying flea market generates revenue for the city.

"I can't see tearing it down, spending the taxpayers' money for parks and green space,
Click to expand...

This mayor has got to be a progressive. Progressives are all about saving the earth and hate anything to do with burning petroleum products.
 
I actually heard that Sterling Marlin has filed a suit to stop the demo of the track. I heard that yesterday on the radio and have been looking since and can not find anything
 
They should try to get the track declared as a historic landmark.
 
Since this has already gotten political, it's how local politics works.

Projects like this aren't usually done for the better of the community. The racetrack is good for the community, it creates jobs, and brings in tax revenue for the city. This has to do with corruption. A friend or a relative or someone who's donated generously to his campaign and him being elected has a vested interest in this project. Whether it's a construction company that gave him thousands of dollars, or it's a relative who's overseeing the project.

This is typical local politics, happens every day. Damn near everything is done for a reason (and that reason is usually, someone in power stands to make a buck).

I'd love to see the local media go out there, act like journalists and investigate. Something smells here...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom