Brittany Climer, the first female to win against males at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, returns to victory lane – Tennessean
Not only does the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway have a female winner back behind the wheel, but she’s a Climer.
Brittany Climer, 31, won the street stock division at the last race at the historic track on Aug. 8 and will be back with hopes of returning to victory lane again at the next race on Sept. 12.
The Climer name is synonymous with winning at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Climer’s father, Tommy, and grandfather James have won multiple track titles at the Fairgrounds and both are in the track’s hall of fame.
Brittany Climer started following in her father’s and grandfather’s tire tracks as a teenager and did her share of winning at the Fairgrounds in several divisions before taking an extended break.
When she was 13 she became the first female driver to win a race against male drivers at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway after winning twice in the junior front runners division.
She continued to win consistently over the next four years before taking time off to raise her daughter.
Now she’s back.
“I had my daughter (Shiann) so I stopped racing for a long time and now I’m 31 and my dad’s been wanting me to get back at it,” said Climer, who lives in Murfreesboro. “I was a little nervous at first to do it and then he talked me into it and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh — I’ve missed this so much.'”
Climer made her return at Highland Rim Speedway in Greenbrier on July 24, but It did not go well. Only four cars finished out of the 10 that started and she was fourth. She also got lapped.
“My dad gave me two hours to practice in this car that I’d never drove and it didn’t turn out well,” Climer said. “I didn’t like The Rim and I was like, ‘Let’s try Nashville because that’s where I used to win all the time.’ They hated when I came to Nashville back then because I was this 14-year-old girl whipping these old men.”
They may dread seeing Climer at the starting line again at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway if she picks up where she left off in the last 25-lap race. She became the first female to win at the Fairgrounds since Stephanie Barnes Duke won a pure stock division race in 2016.
“I’m a little rusty and I still need a lot of practice, but I sure did love it,” Climer said. “And I am so ready to get back into it.”
Climer will love it even more if she wins her next race outright. She was the fourth car to cross the finish line in the Aug. 8 race, but the first three cars where disqualified after the post-race inspections.
“I didn’t expect to win because these boys have been racing since when I was racing as a teenager and all that time when I wasn’t racing,” said Climer, who qualified seventh. “I’ve just been being a mom, coaching (youth) basketball and doing my own thing. I didn’t even expect to finish in the top five. I’m sorry those other three got thrown out and I don’t like winning like that, but my daddy wasn’t too mad about the ($500) check he got.”
Along with the street stock division race on Sept. 12 there will be a 100-lap pro late models race along with limited late models, pure stocks, super trucks, front runners, legends and Bandoleros.
For tickets call 615-254-1986 or visit nashvillefairgroundsspeedway.racing.
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Vandy’s Jordan Rodgers joins ‘SEC Nation’
Former Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers will join Tim Tebow, New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame safety Roman Harper and host Laura Rutledge on SEC Network’s “SEC Nation” this season.
The show airs on Saturdays at 9-11 a.m. and along with previewing games includes live reports, analysis and features on SEC football. Paul Finebaum and Marcus Spears are no longer on the show.
Rodgers has been at ESPN since 2016 when he started as a studio analyst before moving into the Saturday night booth for the primetime SEC Game of the Week, joining play-by-play commentator Tom Hart and analyst Cole Cubelic.
Rodgers will continue in his role on “SEC Saturday Night” with Hart and Cubelic.
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Sounds manager joins Oregon State staff
Darwin Barney, who was named manager of the Nashville Sounds on Jan. 2, has joined the staff at Oregon State. Barney, who played at Oregon State (2005-07), will be camp coordinator and volunteer assistant coach.
The Beaverton, Oregon, native never got to coach the Sounds because the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Barney spent parts of eight years as a major league player and was set to make his professional coaching and managerial debut with the Sounds.
His playing career included stints with the Chicago Cubs (2010-14), Los Angeles Dodgers (2014-15) and Toronto Blue Jays (2015-17).
Kevin Ingram joins Vandy broadcast
Longtime local radio personality Kevin Ingram is joining the Vanderbilt football broadcast.
Ingram, who was recently let go by 104.5-FM where he hosted “The Wake Up Zone,” will host the Vanderbilt pregame show and serve as sideline reporter during the games.
Ingram was on the Vanderbilt broadcast team as sideline reporter from 2002-12. He left in 2012 to do play-by-play TV broadcasts for OVC football games.
“I am happy to be back working with (Commodores voice) Joe (Fisher) and that whole group again,” Ingram said.
He will also continue as play-by-play announcer for Belmont basketball.
Belmont’s Ayers, TSU’s Nichols on top assistants list
Brian Ayers from Belmont and Jeremy Nichols from Tennessee State were named among the top men’s basketball coaches in the Ohio Valley Conference by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.
Ayers is a Clarksville native who played at Lipscomb and spent time on the staffs at Vanderbilt and Austin Peay earlier in his career. He has been at Belmont the past 22 years.
Nichols was the coach at Motlow State (2003-13) and then spent five seasons at Southwest Tennessee Community College before arriving at TSU when Brian “Penny” Collins became the coach in 2018.
Also on the list is Oak Ridge native Tim Kaine at Murray State. Kaine was a graduate assistant at Austin Peay from 2002-03.
Austin Peay-ETSU game postponed
Austin Peay’s football game at home against East Tennessee State scheduled for Sept. 26 was postponed Tuesday.
ETSU is in the Southern Conference, which postponed all conference fall sports competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, like the OVC did. The game will be rescheduled in a future season.
Austin Peay is still in preparation for the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff against Central Arkansas on Aug. 29 in Montgomery, Alabama.
The Governors also have a Sept. 19 game at Cincinnati scheduled.
Austin Peay’s OVC games were postponed until the spring.
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MTSU Hall of Famer Bobby Young dies
Middle Tennessee State Hall of Fame football player Bobby Young died on Aug. 15. He was 90.
Young was a multi-sport athlete at Father Ryan (1947-49) who went on to play fullback on the MTSU football team. He made the All-Volunteer Athletic Conference team in 1951 and All-OVC team in 1952 and 1953.
Young scored a total of 29 career touchdowns and was inducted into the hall of fame in 1979.
Vandy’s Fasoula signs pro deal in Spain
Former Vanderbilt women’s basketball standout Mariella Fasoula has signed a pro contract with Al-Qazeres in Spain.
Fasoula is a 6-foot-5 native of Athens, Greece. She transferred from Boston College and spent her last two seasons at Vandy.
She started in 30 games in 2019-20 and averaged 13.3 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds. She also had a team-high 27 blocks.
Fox finishes second in Honors Pro-Am
Steven Fox from Hendersonville finished second in the Honors/Council Fire Pro-Am to benefit the Tennessee Golf Foundation on Tuesday at The Honors Course in Ooltewah.
Fox, winner of the 2012 U.S. Amateur, finished at 3-under par and seven strokes behind winner Jonathan Hodge from Knoxville.
Nashville’s Johan Kok tied for third with MTSU assistant golf coach Cody Proveaux at 1-under.
Scott Masters of Nolensville and Kevin Snell of Eagleville tied for fifth at even par.
Jared Melson of Tullahoma won the senior division at 5-under.
McGavock standout Larry Knight dies
McGavock basketball great Larry Knight died on Aug. 17. He was 66.
Knight led McGavock to the 1972 state tournament semifinals. He was the Raiders’ leading scorer and rebounder and made the All-Nashville Interscholastic League Team.
Knight, who played for Cameron in his sophomore and junior seasons before McGavock opened, was the District 17 tournament most valuable player and the only player from Nashville to make the all-state tournament team.
He went on to play at Volunteer State Community College.
Belmont’s Luke signs new pro contract
Former Belmont standout point guard Austin Luke signed a pro basketball contract with Gelderland in Holland on Monday.
Luke appeared in 22 games last season for Melilla Baloncesto in Spain.
He spent the 2018-19 season split between VEF Riga in Latvia and VFL Kirchheim Knights in Germany.
Luke had a total of 681 assists in his career at Belmont, which is the most ever in the Bruins’ NCAA Division I era.
If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
Published 11:39 PM EDT Aug 21, 2020
