Fairgrounds Speedway (Nashville)
ClosedClosed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there.
- Raced
- 1958, 1960
- State
- Tennessee
- What's left
- A good length of the old track surface is still there, in poor to good condition.
- Raced on
- Fairgrounds
- First race
- October 4, 1958
- Last race
- 1960
- Surface
- Paved
- Location
- Paved oval at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds
- People
- Bill Donoho, track owner (1958)
- Bennie Goodman, track owner (1958)
- Mark Parrish, track owner (1958)
- Elevation
- 455 ft (139 m)
- Coordinates
- 36.13063, -86.76242
On Saturday night, October 4, 1958, drag races were run on the paved oval as an added attraction after the feature event. That year the oval at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds had replaced the old Nashville Speedways oval on Cowan Street. Bill Donoho, Bennie Goodman and Mark Parrish owned the track. There was also a drag race there in 1960.
Background
The 0.596-mile track near downtown Nashville has raced longer without a break than all but one other track in the country. NASCAR's top series ran there from 1958 to 1984, so the drag races came during its first years as a Cup stop.
More in Tennessee
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. 411 International Dragway (Seymour) 1969-2014
- Nothing left No longer racing, and nothing of the track remains. Big Oak Dragway (Columbia) 1960s
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Brainerd Optimist Dragstrip 1957-63, 1977
- Active Still racing today. Bristol International Dragway 1965-present
- Nothing left No longer racing, and nothing of the track remains. Broadway Speedway (Knoxville) 1954-58
- Status unknown Closed, but nobody has checked how much of the site survives, or the exact spot was never found. Buena Ventura Speedway (New Providence) 1958
- Active Still racing today. Cherokee Dragstrip/Davy Crockett Drag Strip (Rogersville) 1964-present
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Clarksville Dragway 1963-2025
- Nothing left No longer racing, and nothing of the track remains. Cumberland Dragway (Nashville) 1958-65
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. English Mountain Dragway (Newport) 1970-2014
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Fitzgerald Motorsports Park 1978-2026
- Active Still racing today. Gleason Raceway Park ca. 1992, 2021-present