Fairgrounds Racing Ban Petition Certified for Nashville Ballot

The Davidson County Election Commission certified 47,679 signatures on October 16, 2026, for a charter amendment affecting the Fairgrounds Nashville. The total clears the 40,194 required. The vote was 4-0 with one abstention.

The amendment would remove auto racing as a required activity at the Fairgrounds and permit affordable and workforce housing. Voters approved a 2011 referendum protecting racing at the site, which first hosted NASCAR races in the 1950s but has primarily been used for local and regional short track series since 2000. The campus spans 117 acres.

Restore Our Fairgrounds, the group behind the petition, released aspirational renderings in August 2026 showing a large public park usable as a fair midway, greenways along Browns Creek, and one affordable housing building on the roughly 25-acre speedway site. No cost estimate, unit count, or final plan has been released.

Opposition remains active. Decline to Sign alleges fraudulently obtained signatures and misleading canvassing, and opponents say they will take the measure to court later this month. A separate effort to overhaul the speedway and bring back NASCAR's top series was said to be close to a deal last year but never came to fruition.