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Steven Taranto, CBS Sports

The Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in downtown Nashville, Tenn. began its 118th season of racing with the first day of competition for its local division and their local stars on April 2. For the drivers who call Nashville Fairgrounds home, their schedule for the 2022 season includes a total of nine races -- and for a few people, hopefully one more race.

Ahead of its return trip to the track this July, the Superstar Racing Experience announced in March that a fan vote would be held to determine who would get to drive the local all-star car at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Four drivers on the ballot are drivers who compete in the speedway's pro late model division, three of whom have won the track championship and were in the field on opening night.

As the fan vote began in conjunction with their season, the opportunity to race in SRX was a topic of conversation for drivers Cole Williams, Dylan Fetcho and Michael House, all of whom spoke to CBS Sports about being on the ballot.

Since its debut last summer, SRX has become a major boon for short track racers just like these three. Not only has the series grown local short tracks across the country from the niche to a national spotlight, but it has also done the same for those tracks' local drivers. In the case of Doug Coby, who parlayed an SRX win at his local Stafford into a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride, and Luke Fenhaus, whose performance earned him a powerful advocate in Tony Stewart, it has brought great things into the realm of possibility for Nashville's drivers.

"It has a huge audience, it opens my opportunity of kind of putting my name out there, showing my talent to a whole new audience," Williams told CBS Sports. "Of course they're all race fans, so they're out there and watch this stuff -- we have (onlne pay-per-view services like Speed51 and Racing America) that broadcasts this stuff all the time for us, but not everybody has that access to see our races all the time or the outreach there – so being able to have that bigger spotlight to maybe go out there and perform would be a huge opportunity for me."

In its long and storied history, Nashville Fairgrounds has been the sort of track that creates opportunities, as it has produced many NASCAR greats like Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Bobby Hamilton and more. But the chance to be voted into the SRX race presents more than just the possibility of impressing someone enough to get the chance to compete in NASCAR.

While Williams would like to become the first in his family's five generations of racers to get the opportunity to race NASCAR, he's also looking to grow his Fairgrounds legacy and break the track record of four championships. Fetcho, meanwhile, is looking to get more opportunities in the super late model ranks, having hit his financial ceiling in pro late models.

For House -- a 15-year veteran of the speedway who grew up going to races at the track -- the satisfaction of getting to say he went up and raced against some of the best is what he'd look to get out of it. Even as he's content to be a career short tracker at 37.

"It's more about just being out there with that much talent and those names and just saying that – It's almost like a bucket list deal," House said. "I'm content racing super late models, pro late models, if that's what I've got to do the rest of my life. I'm fine with where I'm at. I've got a family, two kids, and I know what it takes to race at the top level and how much time it takes away from family."

But with six drivers on the ballot, only one's hopes of racing in SRX will ultimately be realized. While Brittney Zamora also joins the local contingent after becoming the first woman to win a premiere feature race in speedway history, all four local stars will be going up against two of the biggest names in short track racing: Bubba Pollard and Stephen Nasse, a pair that has large followings, respectively, and have included Nashville Fairgrounds in a long line of conquests across the country.

While Pollard and Nasse are both popular among their short track contemporaries, the hope is that the local fans and voters of Nashville can put one of their local stars over the top and into the field.

"I really think it should be a local driver here at the track that runs here every weekend or every race we have," Fetcho told CBS Sports. "... I'm hoping it helps us for sure. Definitely Bubba and Nasse are both big names in the short track world, so they're gonna get the big votes probably from out of town. Hopefully around here I can get most of them."

Regardless of who eventually ends up getting the fan vote, all drivers on the ballot are reaping the rewards of a renewed interest in short track racing and widespread enthusiasm for it across the racing industry. While NASCAR has increased its focus on and promotion of short track racing, and digital racing-dedicated outlets have helped to grow the industry, the primetime network television platform of SRX has taken things to the next level.

As racing as a whole enjoys renewed popularity, the presence of SRX has created new energy and excitement for short track racers at Nashville that seemed very distant just a few short years ago.

"I've got friends who work for SRX and build the cars, and they're pretty equal and really good, well-built cars. I think that it's brought a lot of excitement," House said. "... I think it's really just opened everybody's eyes on how good short track racing is."

As far as the 2022 season at the Fairgrounds is concerned, Saturday night saw Williams get the jump on his competition as he looks for his third track championship. Williams went wire-to-wire in the 118-lap pro late model feature, leading every lap and holding off Fetcho at the finish to take the first win of the season.