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Bristol Motor Speedway in running to manage Nashville’s Fairgrounds Speedway

Fairgrounds Speedway

Bristol Motor Speedway is among at least two groups under consideration to manage Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, track officials told NBC Sports on Wednesday evening.

“We can confirm that Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) has submitted a proposal to manage the historic Fairgrounds Speedway and would be honored to serve as its promoter,” BMS executive vice president and general manager Jerry Caldwell said in a statement.

UPDATE: Bid to run track to go to current owner, Tennessean reports.

The .596-mile track, which has a seating capacity of 15,000, was previously known as Nashville Speedway and Music City Motorplex.

The Speedway last held a NASCAR Cup race in 1984 (Geoffrey Bodine won), while its last Xfinity race was in 2000 (Randy Lajoie won), the same year of its last Truck race (Randy Tolsma won).

More recently, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East last raced there in 2008, the same year as the NASCAR Southwest Series also raced there.

Caldwell continued: “Bruton Smith, executive chairman and Marcus Smith, chief executive officer (of BMS’s parent company, Speedway Motorsports Inc.), have a vision that the venue can again become a premier destination and they have a solid reputation of creating world-class facilities.

“If selected, the BMS team stands ready to work in collaboration with the city of Nashville to boost the fan experience, improve safety and produce iconic events at the Fairgrounds Speedway. We are confident that great success can be achieved for the racetrack while balancing the quality of life for its surrounding neighbors.”

According to a report in The Tennessean newspaper, BMS is one of at least two groups vying to manage the track, which is the second-oldest continually operating track in the U.S. The other group is headed by current facility manager Tony Formosa, who has operated the track since 2010.

The prospect of BMS caught the attention of several current and former NASCAR drivers on social media:

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