Nearly 75,000 Signatures Against Racing at Nashville's Fairgrounds. Now It Is the Election Commission's Math Problem.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The campaign to end auto racing at The Fairgrounds Nashville moved from canvassing to counting on September 18, 2026, when Restore Our Fairgrounds delivered a petition with nearly 75,000 signatures to the Davidson County Election Commission at the Metro Courthouse, the Nashville Scene reported. Axios Nashville, citing the group, put the count at more than 74,900.

The proposed Metro Charter amendment would ban auto racing at the fairgrounds and add "affordable housing and/or workforce housing" to the activities the charter requires there. Organizers are aiming for the August 2027 ballot, alongside the Metro Council and mayoral elections.

The arithmetic now controls. Election officials have 30 days to certify whether the petition carries enough valid signatures of registered Davidson County voters. The threshold is 10 percent of the county's active registered voters, which the campaign's consultants estimate at about 41,000, per the Scene. The coalition filed nearly 75,000, a cushion of roughly 34,000 over that estimate before invalid or withdrawn signatures come out.

The petition drive is backed by billionaire John Ingram and affiliated groups, per the Scene. "We want to at least give people a chance to have a voice," co-founder Mike Kopp said.

The opposition is organized and funded too. The Decline to Sign coalition, backed by NASCAR track operator Speedway Motorsports Inc. and consultant Darden Copeland, says it facilitated more than 2,000 requests from signers to remove their names, which the Scene reported resulted in several hundred removals, and it has alleged canvasser misconduct in gathering signatures. Coalition co-founder Zach Young said he expects the Election Commission to examine each signature carefully, per the Scene. WSMV reported in August and September 2026 on removal requests from signers who called the petition's claims false or misleading; petition organizers have disputed that characterization.

Racing at the fairgrounds has been protected in the Metro Charter since a 2011 referendum, per the Scene; this amendment would reverse that protection.

Why It Matters for Memphis

This is the largest live test in Tennessee of a question Memphis knows well: what happens when public land tied to a private operator's plans collides with a citizen petition. The 901 Report covered the fight's move to state lawmakers in August (Nashville's Speedway Fight Just Reached the State). The mechanics to watch travel anywhere, including Shelby County: a signature threshold set by charter, an election commission as the referee, an operator-backed campaign to unwind signatures after they are gathered, and a housing mandate written directly into a charter amendment. How Davidson County's commission handles 2,000-plus removal requests will set the Tennessee playbook for both sides of any future petition fight.

The Oversight Question

Who gets to change the use of public fairgrounds land: the signers of a petition, the operator with a stake in the speedway, or the voters in August 2027? The receipts are the petition file and the commission's verification record, both public at the Davidson County Election Commission.

Your city. Your money. Your receipts.