I was thrilled to be at the opening race of the 2011 season at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway after a heated battle between our mayor and the supporters of the Fairgrounds. When I left the speedway after the last race of the 2010 season I was certain I'd never see another car race on that track again.

 There was a great crowd for the race and plenty of action, including some driver's tempers getting a little out of hand while racing on the inner oval. Unfortunately, those weren't the only tempers flaring at the track that day. The Sheriff was tasked with walking around the stands to lead anyone with a cooler out of the facility, which I thought was bogus, since nobody checked the crowd on the way into the race for anything. I just thought it was a bit rude to handle this rule after the fact.

I don't mind paying for beverages at the track, but because of the lack of cash registers at the two refreshment stands, the lines are about 80 or so people long. I would like to be able to bring in small coolers with ice packs and then buy all of my beverages at the refreshment stands before the races begin and keep them cool during the event rather than standing in line for 30 minutes because we all have to wait for one register.

 There was another issue with the staff locking the gate that leads from the bottom of the stands to the Nolensville road parking lot. They forced several elderly people to climb back up a long set of stairs on a hot and humid day to go out the longest way possible to their cars. That sucked! There were some other irritating things like a broken scoreboard and mixed car/truck races.

The opening day experience from the new management was enough to keep me from going to the second race yesterday. I want them to get a few races under their belt to hopefully get their shit together before i go back there again. I'm a big race fan, but I don't like the new stupidity prevailing at this speedway. I hope to put the opening day experience behind me before the next racing event. 

Kudos to the mayor for keeping the track open, but the current management has a long way to go to bring me back to the speedway.