NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — FOX 17 News has obtained exclusive details of a new agreement between Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Speedway Motorsports to revamp the Fairgrounds Speedway and return NASCAR racing to the historic Nashville track.

Features of the new agreement include: a $30 million bond; construction of a new grandstand to accommodate a maximum of 25,000 seats; at least one NASCAR race every two years, maximum sound levels lower than current standards, and a requirement that race cars be outfitted with mufflers for all non-NASCAR races. Other features of the deal include construction of a new 500-vehicle parking garage, with money generated by the garage going to the Metro Fair Board, along with $5 from every race ticket sold.

Speedway Motorsports, a major player in NASCAR racing, owns the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, as well as the Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon in Wilson County. SMI will have exclusive rights to develop the Fairgrounds Speedway footprint. The agreement requires Speedway Motorsports to guarantee any debt associated with construction. The contract is to include the track operator paying rent sufficient to make bond payments. The agreement also penalizes SMI if it fails to deliver promised NASCAR races. Races would be limited to 10 race weekends per year, and there will be a curfew for all non-NASCAR racing events.

Former Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced a similar agreement in principle with SMI in March of 2021, but the project never moved forward. In recent weeks, a coalition of neighborhood groups opposed to the expansion of the historic racetrack asked Mayor O’Connell to put the expansion up for a public vote. This, after city residents approved a referendum to amend the Metro Charter to protect racing at the fairgrounds in 2011 by a 71 % majority.

Nashville SC owner John Ingram has repeatedly voiced his opposition to Fairgrounds Speedway expansion. The speedway is located right beside Ingram’s 30,000-seat soccer stadium. Ingram worries that having a similarly sized venue next door would conflict with events at his stadium. The new agreement specifies that races other than NASCAR events must be scheduled to accommodate Nashville SC games and women’s professional soccer, with the fairground’s executive director to resolve any scheduling conflicts.

An informed source tells FOX 17 News the goal is for Speedway renovations to be completed by 2027.

View to breakdown of the previous deal compared to the new deal below: