When Nashville Mayor John Cooper first proposed overhauling the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, the project was supposed to require the city to back $50 million in revenue bonds. After a series of delays, inflation and growing construction costs have now doubled that figure. So is the rehab of the historic NASCAR site now getting underway? Not quite. Here’s what The Banner’s Steve Cavendish writes in a deep dive today:

Multiple sources familiar with the negotiations say the deal has been “95 percent” completed for a year. A press release from Cooper in December 2020 anticipated NASCAR racing as soon as this year. In March 2021, Metro signed a letter of intent with BMS to reach a deal on the fairgrounds, and Cooper said that “I look forward to working with the Fair Board and the Metro Council in the months ahead” to complete an agreement “to bring back high-level racing at no cost to taxpayers.”

An announcement was made at the 2021 NASCAR Banquet this past December that the two sides had agreed to a financial framework. .

“This administration has a case of the slows,” said one source. Another called it a “plodding, hand-wringing group.” Cooper supporters say it’s important to reach the right deal, not the fastest one.

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