Although it's had many names over the years, the race track at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville has been hosting automobile races since 1904. From the first race on June 14, 1904, (when there weren't even enough cars in existence to have a full day of racing and they had to fill in with motorcycles) to today, the track has hosted many great events and thrilled many fans through the years.
This site attempts to document some of the history of the races. Thousands of men and women have spent countless hours and dollars to compete, no matter the era, and I feel their time and energy should be documented and not lost to history. I hope you enjoy the site.
Track Logos Through the Years
Nashville Fairgrounds Hall of Fame
Track champions of the premier and main support divisions.
Additional track champions of the support divisions at the Nashville Fairgrounds through the years.
A list of races and winners for the Nashville Fairgrounds.
Mini-Stock / Mini Modified DivisionThis link takes you to the home page of the Mini division that ran from 1972 to 1997.
A listing of each race, the winner, and the results from each that were available are here,
plus 17 pages of photos and a few other stats for the division.
Stories / BlogNew section added 12/31/25 Back in 2011 and 2012 I wrote some stories for a blog on the history of the track.
There are stories - supplemented with a lot of photos - about individual races,
stories on seasons and "eras", and some on random events I've picked up through
the years of being around racers from the track. I've edited them and updated them
where needed.
As my web programming skills are limited, these stories are best viewed on a computer
and not on a phone. If you insist on using a phone, at least turn it sideways. ;-)
Click on the link for the stories:
- World War II is over and racing returns to the Fairgrounds - along with a world record
- The first race on the asphalt in 1958
- The Modified Special, or Coupe era: 1958 - 1963
- Coo Coo Marlin had a couple of nasty crashes - after the second one he refused a ride in the ambulance
- The 1963 NASCAR Grand National (now Cup) race had a little bit of everything
- Eddie Mitchell took a wild ride in a race on the half-mile - some photos and a post-crash story
- The last race for the coupes on the quarter-mile track in 1963
- The first year of the new Late Model Modified division in 1964
- 1966 Southern 500 winner Darel Dieringer tells a story about practice for the 1964 Grand National race
- Although they only lasted from 1964 to 1967, the Open Competition races brought the most diverse fields ever to the Fairgrounds
- The day WDCN (public television) taped a science show for elementary schoolers at the track
- Not all races at the Fairgrounds have been for stock cars
- The end of the half-mile track, building the high-banked five-eighths track
- No one had ever seen anything quite like the steep banks of the new track for the 1970 season
- Bill Morton had a second seat in his car and he took a cameraperson along for a ride in a heat race
- The first end-of-season race after they lowered the banks to 18 degrees in 1973
- A look at memorabilia and other cool trinkets through the years at the Fairgrounds
Photos and results of individual races from the Nashville Fairgrounds
- 1966 and 1967 Southern 300 and Open Competition photos
- 1967 and 1968 Grand National (now Cup) races and the 1967 Southern 300 in color
New page added 12/31/25
- 1970 Nashville 420 Grand National race
- 1972 Tennessee 200 USAC Stock car race
New page added 12/31/25
- 1973 Uniroyal 100 photos and results
- 1973 Southern 400 photos
- Practice for the 1974 season-opening race at the Nashville Fairgrounds
- 1974 season-opening Permatex 200 race at the Nashville Fairgrounds
- 1974 Music City 420 Cup race at the Nashville Fairgrounds
- 1974 Union "76" 200 LMS race at the Nashville Fairgrounds
- 1974 Southern 400 photos
- 1981 Melling Tool 420 photos
- 1981 Nashville 420 photos
- 1987 All-American 400 photos and results
- 1988 Late Model Stock Cars
- 1988 State Fair 300 Late Model Stock Car race photos and results
- 1990 Late Model Stock Cars
- 1991 All-American 400 photos and results
- 1996 Federated Auto Parts 250 Craftsman Truck Series photos and results
- A page of random Nashville photos
Souvenir ProgramsHere is a page with the covers of most of the souvenir programs.
Anyone who is a fan of racing at the Fairgrounds knows they produced some of the best programs ever!
You can click on the covers of the programs from 1958 to 2005 and flip through the program page by page.