Sterling Marlin has been one of the good guys in NASCAR longer than most anyone can remember, but like most any respectable Southerner, it's probably not a good idea to make him mad.

And Karl Dean, the mayor of Nashville, has made Marlin mad.

“

The mayor's got it in his head that he wants to spend the taxpayers' money and just tear it down. It's turned into a political deal.

”

-- STERLING MARLIN

Dean wants to level the state fairgrounds, which includes the legendary Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, to build a sports complex and green park. The track hosted what could be its last event late last month, and now Marlin is so incensed, he's helping spearhead an effort to save the facility.

Opened in 1904 as a horse-racing course, Nashville hosted a total of 42 races on what is now the Sprint Cup circuit off and on between 1958 and 1984. It also hosted Nationwide and Truck Series events, as well as a successful weekly program that includes any number of divisions. The track has played host to several drivers who have went on to make their mark at the highest levels of NASCAR, including Marlin, his father Clifton "Coo Coo" Marlin, Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Hamilton Sr. and Jr., the Green brothers -- Jeff, David and Mark, and Casey Atwood.

The track hosted its last Nationwide and Truck Series events in 2000, at which point it gave way to Nashville Superspeedway, located 30 miles or so to the east. Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, known alternately as Music City Motorplex a few years ago, retained a NASCAR sanction for its weekly slate of races through 2008.

For Marlin, the charge to save Nashville from destruction is not just a sentimental endeavor. While other professional sports franchises in Nashville have received various perks from the city, Marlin says that's not been the case with the fairgrounds. Instead, the development makes money, to the tune of several million dollars a year.

"I've got a mayor, and he don't really care nothing about racing, never has," began Marlin, who first visited the track with his parents when he was maybe two months old. "The track didn't take one nickel of taxpayers' money. The city has repeatedly funded the Sounds [minor-league baseball], Predators [NHL], Titans [NFL], the marathon and the Steeplechase. They want to spend $20 million to tear the track down that makes a positive $4 million or $5 million a year, to build some ballparks and a green space in an area that sits in a flood plain. It just doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

"The mayor's got it in his head that he wants to spend the taxpayers' money and just tear it down. It's turned into a political deal. He's got them over budget on a convention center nobody wanted. It's just a mess in Nashville." (Continued)