Nashville is a significant hub for NASCAR and its affiliated organizations. From multiple race tracks to hundreds of thousands of fans, this region in Tennessee is a racing hotspot. Given that it’s the capital of Tennessee and a renowned musical hub, it has two Speedways, but its future in racing is under a cloud of doubt.

Over the last few weeks, talks about a racing ban at the Fairgrounds Speedway surfaced. Battling them, the LiUNA Local 386, a labor group from Nashville, came to the forefront to defend the historic NASCAR track.

Labor group vs politicians

The LiUNA Local 386 is a union comprising nearly 1000 service and construction workers. They have stepped up with a campaign that seeks “guarantees for any future renovation of the track and opposing a charter amendment referendum push aimed at ending racing at the fairgrounds,” as per Nashville Banner.

Along with the demand, the union also stated that it expects the use of local and organized labor. Additionally, it wants good wages and safety standards for the laborers in all construction.

This comes to light as the latest plans are set to explicitly prohibit all types of racing at the iconic track.

John Ingram, the lead owner of the soccer outfit Nashville SC, is one of the front-runners to ban racing from the region. So much so that he is reportedly ready to splurge money to get the signatures done for the prohibition of racing. Metro Councilmember Terry Vo also supports the anti-racing ban.

They argue that Nashville needs more green space, affordable housing, and community-focused development, not a racetrack. The current Fairgrounds Speedway land could be better used for public amenities and neighborhood priorities than motorsports. Their petition seeks to remove “auto racing” protections from the Metro Charter so city officials can pursue other uses for the property.

On the other hand, the labor group union who support racing have their reasons as well. Paris Coleman, one of the members of the LiUNA union, graduated from the Music City Construction Career recently. Coleman, who has a family tie with the race track, is one of many who want the Fairgrounds Speedway to be maintained, and racing to be continued.

“It’s a core memory as a child, so I don’t want to see a monumental thing be taken away, especially when there are other options to build other things around the city instead of them trying to use that land,” Coleman told Nashvillebanner.com.

She also added how the track “is one of the few affordable things left in this city.” Taking this track away from the locals would actually take away a piece of Nashville’s soul, one that generations grew up around.

The Fairgrounds Speedway, one of the two tracks in Nashville, has been out of Cup Series action for nearly four decades. This track last operated in a Cup race back in 1984. However, the lower NASCAR national series continued there through 2000.

The Nashville Superspeedway, situated in Lebanon, Tennessee, started hosting races in 2021. Even though the track was opened in 2001, after a two-decade-long hiatus, it returned to the NASCAR calendar after Speedway Motorsports bought it.

As things stand, NASCAR is set to continue on the Nashville Superspeedway in 2026. But amid this divide, whose side is the mayor on?

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Nashville mayor is skeptical

Nashville mayor Freddie O’Connell is not someone who would want to ban racing from the Fairgrounds Speedway. Even though the proposed referendum is in place, the City Mayor is very skeptical about it.

Speaking to the media, O’Connell said, “It’s not a priority for me.” He then framed the proposal as a kind of “repeal and replace” solution that oversimplifies a complex issue.

“We’ve got 526 square miles to use for potential housing and only 100 acres of fairgrounds. We tear down Wave Country and put affordable housing there,” he further added.

However, the referendum still needs to collect over 53,000 signatures for it to proceed. With that said, the track that carries a serious history of NASCAR is in jeopardy. It will be interesting to see if the labor union manages to turn things around in the upcoming days.