The owner of Bristol Motor Speedway is in preliminary talks about holding two yearly NASCAR races at the Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, but the two sides appear no closer to a deal.

Tony Formosa, the longtime promoter of the fairgrounds racetrack, said Speedway Motorsports, the company that owns Bristol Motor Speedway, has expressed interest in holding a NASCAR Xfinity Series race and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the fairgrounds.

"If the Bristol deal matures, I think they're talking about two races," Formosa told the Metro Board of Fair Commissioners at the board's monthly meeting.

More:Bristol Motor Speedway owner meets with Nashville mayor to pitch return of NASCAR to fairgrounds

Formosa is in the first year of a five-year contract to hold races at the Fairgrounds Speedway, where he organizes a slate of local racing events each year.

He said the two NASCAR races floated by Speedway Motorsports would be held over one weekend, but dates are unclear. He stressed that talks are still very early.

"I think everything is still very premature," he told The Tennessean. "We haven't even come close to reaching an (agreement).

"I'd like to be the guy that brings NASCAR back to the Fairgrounds Speedway, obviously. I don't want to be the guy that keeps NASCAR from coming back to Fairgrounds Speedway. I think that it would be good for our city and obviously good for our speedway."

Bristol owner seeks 'modernization' of speedway

Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, has this past year pitched a return of NASCAR races to the fairgrounds short track, which hasn't held NASCAR's top racing series regularly since 1984.

The Tennessean reported on his company's interest in August, but details of what renewed NASCAR at the fairgrounds might look like hadn't previously been discussed.

It would require an agreement with Formosa, who holds operational rights to the speedway after winning Metro's bid for the track last year over Speedway Motorsports and other groups that submitted proposals.

“We continue to see a lot of potential at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway,” Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager at Bristol Motor Speedway, said in a statement.

“Now seems to be the right time for meaningful preservation of the great local short-track racing and modernization of the historic facility. We look forward to continuing conversations with the Formosas, the fair board and Metro on how we can all work together to bring NASCAR racing back to Nashville.”

More:Briley 'supportive' of Bristol owner bringing NASCAR back to Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway

Smith has met with Formosa and Mayor David Briley, who has said he is "generally supportive" of a public-private partnership that could pave the way for NASCAR's return to the fairgrounds racetrack.

In a letter to Smith last month, Briley said the first step is a "true determination through a master planning process of what must be done to enhance and modernize the historic facility."

Nashville Speedway also could hold World of Outlaws dirt races next year

The interest from Speedway Motorsports comes as The Fairgrounds Nashville is slated for a major overhaul with the addition of a new Major League Soccer stadium, tentatively set to open in 2021. The plan is for the speedway to remain and continue holding events.

Formosa mentioned the two potential NASCAR races to the fair board while responding to a question from fair board commissioner Jason Bergeron, who expressed concerns about adding too many races at the speedway.

At the same meeting, the board voted to advance a request from Formosa to bring a dirt-track World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Cars series to the speedway.

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The World of Outlaws races would take place during two weeks in May, but it is contingent on the outfit meeting safety requirements outlined by the board. The plan involves the organizers bringing in dirt to temporarily cover the track and building a new safety wall around the track.

"That's the thing that's given me pause a little bit is I don't know where we are with Bristol," Bergeron said.

"It's suddenly a lot of weekends," he added. "I'm kind of just wondering about where we're heading."

In all, the Outlaws events would increase next year's schedule of racing events at the Fairgrounds Speedway to 11.

The speedway has long been a source of noise complaints from some neighbors who live near the track. In recent years, the fairgrounds started requiring mufflers on race cars to try to limit noise.

Reach Joey Garrison at jgarrison@tennessean.com or 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.