Auto Racing in TN (Memphis, Knoxville: sales, house, buy)

[leonard]

I an considering moving to Tennessee. Cars are my hobby. What is the Drag, Circle Track and car show activity like in TN? Primarily between Nashville and Knoxville

[alleycat]

I can only speak about the Nashville area.

Years ago, drag racing was quite a thing around here. There were drag races every weekend at Union Hill (northwest Nashville) and other tracks. I just don't hear about it much anymore. It seems to be all NASCAR now, with a little Indy car racing thrown in.

There is a major track in the Nashville area (Nashville Super Speedway, although it's not actually in Metro Nashville). There have one or two Indy car races there every year. And there are Busch races held here, but not Winston Club anymore (I know they've changed the names now, but I still think of it this way); they hope to bring it back in the future . . . but with NASCAR, who knows.

There's a couple of auto museums in the area, not huge ones but an interesting variety of cars. Occasionally I'll see some kind of car collector get-together here; sometimes it's a major show, and sometimes just a minor one.

[knoxgarden]

The area is very car friendly.
Lots of Saturday night tracks around as well as the big track at Bristol.
Nashville Speedway is paved and has a lot of events.
Nashville Superspeedway
I'm partial to dirt. There's a good track in Clarksville north west of Nashville
Clarksville Speedway
Duck River is south.
Duck River Speedway
Checkered Flag is down that way too.
Official Internet Home of Checkered Flag Speedway
Memphis Motorsports Park has NHRA and circle events.
Memphis Motorsports Park (http://www.memphismotorsports.com/ - broken link)
Mid-South Racing is a good place to check for events online.
Mid-South Racing Scene
Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, KY, isn't all that far from you. Really nice dirt track and Bardstown is the home of Stephen Foster. Pretty town to visit.
Frames
East Tennessee has Tazewell Speedway and Volunteer Speedway. Both host big dollar events during the year.
There are a lot of car shows around and a lot of classic cars on the street. I see them all the time in Knoxville.

[Beretta]

Knoxgarden always does a lovely job of posting internet offerings and this is no exception. I do want to mention that on this topic many, many of the activities you are asking about are never advertised on the internet. For instance, here in Maryville there is a car show in the mall parking lot outside of Sears every Friday night; but you will never know that from the internet. TN loves their cars. We actually even had a guy and his wife in Greenback bring their beautifully restored cars to the church parking lot week before last so we could all admire them after church let out. I pass several dirt tracks up and down east Tennessee that probably are not advertised outside of their little area. There are also car enthusiast clubs, etc. in many areas. Your best bet may be to call car and auto accessory businesses in the towns you are interested in and ask them for info. My hubby is a complete car nut and we would have a 12 car garage if I would let him and we would be going to car events every weekend!

Where are you currently located?

[CG&D93]

Nice job knoxgarden. Here is a web site that you all might enjoy. It's one I'm quite proud of.

http://www.chasinracin.com/track-locator/ (broken link)

I don't know anything about racing, cars etc. (except for the one in my garage) but I know that Pigeon Forge/Sevierville is getting ready to have two big car events over the next two weekends. It brings a lot of awesome looking cars to our area. You never know what you will see driving around.

[leonard]

Originally Posted by SmokyMtnGal

Knoxgarden always does a lovely job of posting internet offerings and this is no exception. I do want to mention that on this topic many, many of the activities you are asking about are never advertised on the internet. For instance, here in Maryville there is a car show in the mall parking lot outside of Sears every Friday night; but you will never know that from the internet. TN loves their cars. We actually even had a guy and his wife in Greenback bring their beautifully restored cars to the church parking lot week before last so we could all admire them after church let out. I pass several dirt tracks up and down east Tennessee that probably are not advertised outside of their little area. There are also car enthusiast clubs, etc. in many areas. Your best bet may be to call car and auto accessory businesses in the towns you are interested in and ask them for info. My hubby is a complete car nut and we would have a 12 car garage if I would let him and we would be going to car events every weekend!

Where are you currently located?

Thanks for all the input from all of you.

I am currently in So California, but will move when I retire. While there are several Drag strips I can go to, the area is so crowded it is a pain to go. So Cal is great if you are young. LOTS of things to do, places to go and see and opportunity's galore. It is especially good if you buy property, even just your home. The appreciation over the years is BIG.

However after 30 years or so you decide you want a slower more peaceful pace of life. My sister in law lives in Tenn near Pigeon Forge. In visiting the area we seem drawn to the Cookeville, Crossville area. Say between Nashville and Knoxville in the Cumberland area.

Any additional thoughts are welcome.

One thing that would help is an idea of property taxes, State income taxes, etc. I will buy a house in the range of $250,000 to $350,000 (cash from selling mine here in Calif)and have investment income over $50,000 yearly.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by leonard

Thanks for all the input from all of you.

I am currently in So California, but will move when I retire. While there are several Drag strips I can go to, the area is so crowded it is a pain to go. So Cal is great if you are young. LOTS of things to do, places to go and see and opportunity's galore. It is especially good if you buy property, even just your home. The appreciation over the years is BIG.

However after 30 years or so you decide you want a slower more peaceful pace of life. My sister in law lives in Tenn near Pigeon Forge. In visiting the area we seem drawn to the Cookeville, Crossville area. Say between Nashville and Knoxville in the Cumberland area.

Any additional thoughts are welcome.

One thing that would help is an idea of property taxes, State income taxes, etc. I will buy a house in the range of $250,000 to $350,000 (cash from selling mine here in Calif)and have investment income over $50,000 yearly.

I know of a bunch of Californians who moved to Cookeville, they were all friends in CA (La Jolla), one of them moved to Cookeville then talked their friends into doing the same. They love it in Cookeville, and now their kids are getting married and settling in the area, too.

Anyway, Tennessee does not have a state income tax except on income derived from stock dividends (6%). The sales tax rate is fairly high (9.75 percent is the maximum, lower on food). There's no state property tax.

Counties and cities levy their own property taxes. You can find their rates here:
TN Comptroller of the Treasury - Division of Property Assessments - 2006 Property Tax Rates (http://www.comptroller1.state.tn.us/PAnew/LR.asp?W=06 - broken link)

The rates are per $100 of assessed value of the property. The assessed value is 25% of the appraised value. So let's say you buy a home for $350,000 in rural Putnam County. At a property tax rate of $2.45, your annual county property tax would be $2,143.75. If you lived in the city of Cookeville, you would pay the additional city property tax. Cookeville's city property tax rate is $0.79, so that's a city property tax of $691.25.

When you look at the above link, you'll see that the property tax rates vary pretty widely from county to county and city to city. But they are most likely much less than what you're accustomed to paying in California.

The Cumberland Plateau is a beautiful area. I personally prefer Cookeville over Crossville because it's a college town and has more to do, plus it's only an hour from the Nashville airport which is a hub for Southwest Airlines and has cheap air fares to all over the country (something the Knoxville airport doesn't have).

[SPLIT]

Did you watch BRISTOL last weekend. I guess there was 160,000 sell-out .
Also their THUNDER VALLEY drag strip is there for national NHRA events maybe twice a year. ?
Some other Busch / NASCAR events just over the border into Lower Kentucky.

[leonard]

Originally Posted by SPLIT

Did you watch BRISTOL last weekend. I guess there was 160,000 sell-out .
Also their THUNDER VALLEY drag strip is there for national NHRA events maybe twice a year. ?
Some other Busch / NASCAR events just over the border into Lower Kentucky.

Didn't see it.

However I am aware of Thunder Valley. I also believe there is a 1/8 mile drag strip near Crossville. A friend lives there.

[leonard]

Thanks for this list. Is was very nice of you to provide it. Very helpful

Originally Posted by knoxgarden

The area is very car friendly.
Lots of Saturday night tracks around as well as the big track at Bristol.
Nashville Speedway is paved and has a lot of events.
Nashville Superspeedway
I'm partial to dirt. There's a good track in Clarksville north west of Nashville
Clarksville Speedway
Duck River is south.
Duck River Speedway
Checkered Flag is down that way too.
Official Internet Home of Checkered Flag Speedway
Memphis Motorsports Park has NHRA and circle events.
Memphis Motorsports Park (http://www.memphismotorsports.com/ - broken link)
Mid-South Racing is a good place to check for events online.
Mid-South Racing Scene
Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, KY, isn't all that far from you. Really nice dirt track and Bardstown is the home of Stephen Foster. Pretty town to visit.
Frames
East Tennessee has Tazewell Speedway and Volunteer Speedway. Both host big dollar events during the year.
There are a lot of car shows around and a lot of classic cars on the street. I see them all the time in Knoxville.