The Nashville Fair Board approved Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway’s proposal to renovate and lease the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Tuesday night.
The approval comes after the November announcement of an agreement made on the contract terms between Bristol and the Nashville Metropolitan Mayor’s office.
“We are thankful to the Nashville Fair Board for supporting the vision to restore the historic Fairgrounds Speedway,” said Jerry Caldwell, president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. “They invested a lot of time vetting this opportunity, and we agree it provides a financially responsible future for the speedway while shifting the risk off taxpayers to a private operator, and completes the restoration of the Fairgrounds with improvements like a state-of-the-art sound-reduction wall that benefits the surrounding neighborhoods.
“We look forward to working with the Metro Council in the weeks ahead and believe that they also will agree that this is a smart plan for the future of the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.”
Among the renovations planned through the contract agreement with Bristol Motor Speedway and the city of Nashville includes an upgraded racing surface and rebuilt stands to seat an estimated 30,000 fans.
The process now moves on to the Metropolitan Sports Authority and Nashville Metro Council for approval.