(Nashville, TN)- The Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Hall of Fame inducted their 2025 class on Wednesday evening at a sold out event on the outskirts of Music City.
The Hall of Fame inductions, which began in 1987, recognizes drivers who played a notable part over the years in helping make the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway one of the best and most successful short tracks in the nation.
Owensboro’s Jeff Green was inducted as the 99th member of the Hall of Fame on Wednesday night.
Jeff grew up watching his father, David Green Sr. race at tracks around the area, but not the type of racing you may connect the Green Brothers with.
“My dad was into drag racing, and I grew up watching him race at Windy Hollow and Beech Bend,” said Green. “I eventually ran a couple of dragsters myself, but I became interested in kart racing when I was 7 or 8.”
Jeff said David Sr. was okay with his kids becoming involved in “left turn” racing. “He was OK with it, he let us make our own decisions and even ran a few kart races with us.”
Green began running Mini-Modifieds at Kentucky Motor Speedway in Whitesville at the age of 17.
“I knew that was what I always wanted to do,” said Green.
Green followed in the foot steps of his two older brothers, David and Mark who also took the stock car route out of Owensboro.
In the late 80’s and early 90’s, the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway hosted two annual Cup races and huge weekly racing, so Green followed the footsteps of his hometown hero, Darrell Waltrip and moved to Nashville to pursue his racing career.
“When I pulled into the Fairgrounds for the first time, I felt like I was at Daytona,” said Green when comparing the Nashville track to Kentucky Motor Speedway in Whitesville.
In 1990, Green solidified his foot print in Nashville Fairgrounds history winning 15 of 22 races, only finishing outside of the top 3 in the other seven starts once due to an engine failure. Green added 8 more races to his win total in 1991 for a total of 23 victories, 12th best in the track’s legendary history.
In 1992, Green went to work for Wayne Day, who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday night, driving a limited NASCAR Busch Series season for the legendary team owner and fixture in racing.
“I was very fortunate to be with the right people, at the right period in my career to do what we did in Nashville. Without Nashville, I don’t think I would have had a NASCAR career.”
In 1993, Jeff made the move to the NASCAR hub, North Carolina to serve as a spotter and car builder for fellow Owensboro native and racer, Michael Waltrip.
Michael introduced Jeff to numerous people in the NASCAR industry including Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress, and Richard Petty. Jeff would drive for all three of these legendary names in the sport.
“I was living the dream. I was young, and didn’t fully comprehend at the time how big of a deal it was. Now I fully comprehend what a big deal it was. Looking back, it’s kinda hard to believe,” said Green.
Jeff joined his brother, David as a NASCAR Busch Series Champion in 2000 piloting the No. 10 Nesquik Chevrolet.
Jeff Green’s Grand National career included 535 races, with 16 wins.
While Jeff’s NASCAR Cup Series career did not include a win, it did include 16 top-10 finishes and two poles including the 2003 Daytona 500.
Jeff’s competitive racing career ended in 2019, before climbing in the seat of the Georgia-based RSS racing team for a start-and-park effort in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Jeff has moved back to Owensboro with his high-school sweetheart, Michelle and enjoys working on cars and go-karts in his garage, and part-time racing schedule in a vintage kart series.
-Blake Smith, Let’s Talk Racing
