Race Night at the Fairgrounds
The night was cool but muggy. One of those perfect Southern nights where a person wants to be out doing SOMETHING. One of those nights where everyone is sweaty and the sweat works as a catalyst such that any spark meant a sure-fire three-alarm dust-up was inevitable. It was the perfect night to head down to the local race track and wait for a spark.
Off I went to the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. I had an image in my mind of men and women who were there on a shoestring budget fighting for gas money and if they were lucky a little more so they could stop at the Dairy Queen on the way home. An atmosphere of desperation and fear. The kind of place where a dude walking around with a camera was a suspect and a friend all at once. I wanted a pit area that was a powder keg waiting for that one wrong move by some rookie to set everything off paired with ravenous fans who were there to see a spectacle. The kind of fans who knew all the cars and held grudges and would do anything for their driver and I figured that I would get a show that made the price of admission more than worth it.
What I got was something different. I got a group of professionals there to do a job. That job was to finish their 100 laps as quickly as possible. They roll up in their rigs that cost as much as my house, unload, go fast, load, and then go home. No drama llamas in this bunch.
The fans were what you find at any event nowadays; they ranged from folks going to the races on a lark to tourists trying to find an “authentic” experience to hardcore living one-half mile at a time fans.
My hopes for a night of drama and excitement were dashed. Like a lot of things today, racing, even at this level; barely minor league, has had its fangs filed down by money. The Money and Sponsors have replaced the desperation with legitimacy. The irony, of course, is that with the money comes stability, and with stability comes faster, safer, and more reliable racing. And none of that is necessarily what folks want. Faster isn't always more exciting. These cars were faster, if only by a little, than the NASCAR racecars from back in the day, but the new cars go around the track without any tension. The cars are going to last the 100 laps, the drivers know more about driving the track now and the combination is a detriment to the sport.
The Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is the second oldest continuously operating racetrack in the United States. It has earned its right to exist. But like any long-lived institution, it needs to evolve with the times. There's more to that track than just Saturday night late-model stockcar and modifieds racing. This track has history and it needs to embrace that history. It should become snobbish about its history. Because right now the Speedway is like that one guy we all know - still wearing the t-shirt he got when he and his buddies skipped school and did an epic road trip to see Ozzy in New Orleans in 1984.
Guess what? 1984 was 40 years ago. Now is not the time to pretend that everything is ok and that racing will survive. Believe me, if I were in the hospital and what passes for racing at the Speedway was my life support; I would be begging for a visit from Dr. Jack.
My advice to the folks at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is for them to look to the future by embracing their past. Look at what is happening over the pond at Goodwood. Partner with the folks putting on the Music City Grand Prix. When the Music City GP was a street race, it was a festival of speed. There were four different kinds of racing going on that weekend. Incorporating a historical aspect as part of the program would give the Fairgrounds Speedway a real meaningful purpose as a museum to racing in this country at a venue that has seen all of the eras of racing this country has to offer.
