SRX Preview: Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway

One of several SRX racetracks with a long history, Nashville lays claim to being the lone track SRX has visited so far that can boast that Barney Oldfield once competed there. Oldfield, the first great American racing driver, made a name for himself competing as the first driver that Henry Ford hired to showcase Ford across the country, often competing in staged events but still winning plenty of legitimate races. Some of the things that Oldfield could lay claim to either inventing or having a role in inventing include the car dealership, the now-standard roll cage in race cars, and the racing tire that Firestone could trace most of its catalog back to until the advent of radial tires.

Anyways, what was this preview about? Oh yes, Nashville. The Fairgrounds started holding races in 1904, and after 54 years, the modern pavement track opened and became an instant hotbed for NASCAR talent. Coo Coo Marlin made his home there, winning four track championships, with son Sterling winning three of his own.  Nashville was the true start of the great Darrell Waltrip; in the 1970s, Waltrip burst onto the national scene bragging about how he would beat both Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough, and backed it up fiercely. Old Fairground fans, however, had already seen this dog-and-pony show; Waltrip had done the same to Coo Coo in the 1960s beforehand, winning two track championships in the process. The Marlins were and are beloved names at the Fairgrounds, with Coo Coo being the local boy done good, so this loud-mouthed Kentuckian showing up and beating Coo Coo did not sit well with fans at the time.

This track has a bit of an oddball profile- 0.596 miles officially, with 18 degrees of banking in the turns.

In modern NASCAR, there are still plenty of Fairgrounds alumni. Chase Elliott, Daniel Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek are all former winners of the All American 400, one of the biggest late model races in the country. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about Speedway Motorsports Inc. entering into an agreement with the Fairgrounds board to take over and revitalize the facility to host NASCAR national touring races again, in particular a Cup race. Despite a deal being reached with the mayor in November, actual movement on the deal on the fair board has been very slow to go, with any Cup race probably now being in 2025 or later.

Here is the entry list for Saturday night, with the guest drivers in bold:

Here’s a look at three notable Superstars competing…