NOTE Nashville

02/04/2026

While trees were snapping, power out for days, and families freezing in single-digit temps, our Mayor O’Connell wasn’t leading from the top — no command center, no coordinated updates, no financial assistance to get people into warm hotel rooms. Now, regardless of how you feel about NES’s handling of the aftermath, the mayor is trying to shift the blame — because his priorities were elsewhere before the storm.

Leadership is preparation. It's about protecting Nashvillians. Where was his focus you ask? A closed-door meeting with Metro Council and lawyers, scheduled for last Tuesday — in the middle of a projected once-in-a-generation ice storm — intended to pressure Council members about a backroom deal for a NASCAR racetrack. Even though this meeting was ultimately canceled, his and his team's attention was clearly elsewhere — that decision wasn't made until 48 hours before it was set to happen. In case you’re wondering – an expanded racetrack in the middle of a neighborhood, and 500 feet from an elementary school won’t protect Nashvillians either.

The storm was really bad. People suffered. But as bad as it was? Forcing an expanded racetrack would hurt our city for generations – not days. Why was he focused on that?!

He ran on neighbors & families first. Nashvillians first. Transparency.

Instead, he's talking about more toys for tourists, benefiting out-of-state billionaires. If all this tourism money doesn't benefit people in our time of need, then who’s it for? We all know the answer. Nashvillians are being left in the cold, and I’m sick of it.

Nashville deserved better leadership because Freddie wasn't ready.

01/21/2026

On Saturday, January 17, I was humbled to see a historical marker for Cumberland Park unveiled! For those who don’t know, the site that is currently the Fairgrounds Speedway was public green space first called Cumberland Park. Horse racing and eventually auto racing (that did away with Cumberland Park) - came leaving asphalt that isn’t for public use. It was wonderful to see so many people come out to unveil this. Want to learn more about why Davidson County voters should decide what happens next here? Message me!

01/21/2026

This past Saturday (January 17) the replacement marker near the Fairgrounds was erected - after inexplicably going missing a while back. It was an absolute pleasure to participate in the unveiling of a historical marker and exciting to bring focus to the true history of the Fairgrounds site!

Officials said the new marker has an updated historical narrative and an image of Cumberland Park, circa 1909.

01/21/2026

Learn more about the community coalition that wants Davidson County voters to decide what happens next at the Fairgrounds Speedway! City Cast Nashville hosted by the wonderful Marie Cecile Anderson dives into just that. Thank you to City Cast Nashville for talking about the issue in detail!

As the decades-long debate over the future of Nashville’s historic Fairgrounds Speedway moves into 2026, a deal to expand the track for NASCAR races hovers i...

08/10/2025

(March 5, 2025) Fresh polling from Fairgrounds Preservation Partners—a pro-neighborhood nonprofit—shows Nashvillians are ready to hit the brakes on NASCAR at the Fairgrounds. Instead of more laps around the track, residents overwhelmingly support shifting gears toward building affordable housing, creating a public park, and cleaning up Brown’s Creek—the polluted stream idling right next to the speedway.

08/09/2025

Flashback to 2021’s change.org petition — even though the deal will change, yep, this car just keeps circling the track, over and over. Expanding racing here is as short-sighted as the track is short… and as short as the 500 feet between it and an elementary school — the closest track-to-school distance in the country.

Back then it was unpopular. Now, with fresh polling data (see next post), it’s even less popular than before! 🚫🏎️

Nashvillians Opposing Speedway Expansion

08/09/2025

Nashville SC is kicking it with Fairgrounds-area neighborhoods—now officially opposing Speedway Motorsports and NASCAR due to the serious “quality of life” red cards this project could draw for our neighbors.

They know a bad play when they see one, and this one’s an own goal for the community. Let’s keep our neighborhoods in the goal zone, not stuck defending against noise, traffic, and taxpayer giveaways. ⚽

Racetrack opponents are preparing a plan that would prohibit racing at the fairgrounds.

08/09/2025

(February 27, 2025) Community groups including SNAP, TAG, and the 12th South Neighborhood Association are calling for a true seat at the table after a year of being stonewalled and ignored by the Mayor’s Office. It’s time for less vroom vroom and more room for trees. 🌳

08/09/2025

(February 24, 2025) Our community coalition is exploring a new petition to prohibit auto racing here—after a previous effort was stalled by frivolous lawsuits from racing special interests.

Imagine if this space wasn’t stuck in the fast lane for racing:
🌳 Expanding green space
💧 Restoring Brown’s Creek, a treasured waterway running through the site
🏘 Affordable housing & vibrant mixed-use development

Yes, please. Whatever the choice, let’s give the community a fair shot at the steering wheel—and not get sidelined in the pit lane by yet another proposal to rev up and expand auto racing!

08/09/2025

(February 28, 2025) Despite pledging to fight for neighborhoods, Mayor Freddie O’Connell is in “ongoing” talks with North Carolina–based Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) to bring deafening, traffic-jamming NASCAR races to the Nashville Fairgrounds—funded by taxpayers.

We’re not against racing. We’re against putting it on just 10 acres in the middle of neighborhoods, 500 feet from an elementary school. Racing belongs where it fits—like the Lebanon Super Speedway, 30 miles out, on 1,200 acres SMI already owns.

That’s right—SMI already has the perfect space. No taxpayer-funded 30-year loan. No gridlock. No sleepless nights. No pollution.

Let’s keep our neighborhoods safe, our schools quiet, and our city smart about growth.

Vroom vroom… in the right place.

Neighbors to the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway are voicing concern about whether they'll have a say in conversations around a renovation deal.