Auto racing opponents are fighting an old Metro Charter amendment with a new one. A well-resourced coalition of community and advocacy organizations, with support from Councilmember Terry Vo, filed a new charter amendment this week that would cut “auto racing” as a required activity at the Fairgrounds Nashville. The proposal revives a years-long struggle over racing and would rewrite language added to the charter in 2011 by referendum that enshrined auto racing in the city’s governing document.
Charter amendment would add affordable housing in place of auto racing at fairgrounds
Today’s broad anti-racing coalition cites environmental concerns and quality-of-life threats to a neighborhood that has drastically changed in the 15 years since an insurgent “Fairgrounds Yes” campaign won charter protections for racing at the Fairgrounds Speedway. That effort, funded by Darrell Waltrip and steered by Darden Copeland, captured locals’ resentment toward rapid city change and then-Mayor Karl Dean.
While the new anti-racing coalition is its diametric opposite on the issue, the group hopes to capture similar backlash sentiment, positioning its campaign against Nashville’s growing reputation for sacrificing city assets at the altar of tourism and entertainment interests. The Metro Board of Ethical Conduct recently censured Nashville Fair Commissioners Board chairman Jasper Hendricks for his cozy relationship with NASCAR operator Speedway Motorsports Inc., which has long angled for a city contract to revamp and operate the fairgrounds track.
Expected noise pollution, air pollution, parking chaos and financial viability have dogged Speedway Motorsports’ efforts to bring NASCAR back to the fairgrounds. A contract made it to then-Mayor John Cooper’s desk months before he was set to leave office, but the racing corporation ultimately "paused" its contract effort in August 2023.
At a contentious fairgrounds meeting, competing sides agree Nashville is on the wrong track
“We want this land to help serve the people of Nashville,” Mike Kopp, one of the group’s organizers, tells the Scene. “It’s a grassroots effort from neighbors and other people who care about the future of this city.”
Kopp sees next year's Nov. 3 midterm elections as a likely ballot for the charter rewrite. The anti-racing group includes Vo, politico communications veteran Kopp, former Metro legal director Saul Solomon, attorney John Spragens and various community group leaders. Advocacy groups include Neighbors Opposing Track Expansion (NOTE), South Nashville Action People (SNAP), Kopp's Fairgrounds Preservation Partners and nonprofit Citizens Against Racetrack Expansion (CARE) under the broad Restore Our Fairgrounds umbrella.
Solomon’s legal expertise surely gives the group an edge as it navigates the city process to approve charter language, while Spragens, Kopp and others can offer valuable political connections for fundraising and campaigning. The coalition has also tapped Tucker Karnes at Cooley Public Strategies for PR legwork.
“John Ingram has not been involved in this process at all, to my knowledge,” Kopp tells the Scene, referring to the billionaire owner of Nashville SC who has been a vocal NASCAR opponent. “But we need all the help we can get to spread the word about this, so if he wants to chip in, that’s fine by me.”
They’ve also gotten support from the Cumberland River Compact, which has drawn attention to how pollutant byproducts from racing have contributed to the pollution of nearby Cumberland River tributary Browns Creek. The proposed amendment would explicitly ban auto racing within 1,000 feet of the waterway.
The amendment would also add “affordable and/or workforce housing” as a required activity at the fairgrounds complex. Currently, a private developer operates the 335-unit mixed-use Park Commons on a land lease from the city between the racetrack and Geodis Park.
