ghoffman

Bruton Smith just bought it for $340M in cash! I hope they don't screw it up (i.e. kill the Road Race part which was the original track before Bahre bought it) in favor of NASCAR only.
http://www.wmur.com/sports/14495148/detail.html

Carolina C4 Racer

Rumor has it that Smith's reason for buying was to move one of the NHIS nascar dates to his track in Vegas.
If you remember he and Bahre bought out North Wilkesboro Speedway in NC & completely shut it down only to get the (2) Nascar dates they had. Then they added the 2nd races at NHIS & Texas Motor Speedway which of course is owned by B. Smith.

I think B. Smith is a greedy bastard that is ruining, what was once a great sport. But what does he care he has gotten extremely rich in the process.

ghoffman

That is what the local news is speculating as well.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.a...4-097d03729442
Funny, the Eggshell restuarant is a typical "greasy spoon" and Bahre's lunch check was probably $12.
But why would you spend that kind of money to move a date to LV, since Loudon sells out every race? I just hope they don't throw out all of the local clubs or plow under the road race track. Only time will tell...

AU N EGL

Wish I had $340 million in cash just to buy something and NOT USE IT.


I dont think they well plow it under. Loudon and Pocono are the two closest tracks to NYC. NYC or Park Ave is were the marketing money is.

BrianCunningham

Well, if they move one of the NASCAR dates to Vegas, than that's another date, actually the whole week, to rent the car out to other
events.

I was always curious why NH had two NASCAR races, when all the other tracks were begging for a date.

Falcon

What else could possibly bring in as much money as a NASCAR event?

ghoffman

The Loudon Classic bike event is the oldest motorcycle race in the country and 2nd only to Daytona in numbers of bikers.

the blur

the track is in a flood area, I wouldn't have brought it for 1M

BrianCunningham

AMLS is another, which would be interesting on the road couse at NHIS.

But I was actually thinking about us amatures. Not that the new owners was thinking about that, but a side benefit would be another week free if a race is moved.

astock165

Wouldn't he HAVE to keep it open to the clubs just to keep the cashflow going and be able to pay the bills while it's not hosting its big NASCAR events?

I thought every track did that?

ghoffman

Indy doesn't....

Carolina C4 Racer

The point most of you are missing is the value of the Nascar TV package. Ticket sales are almost irrevelent.
At most tracks I see more empty seats each year & the cameras try to avoid showing the stands at all.
Ticket sales & prices are another subject. The point;
A track full of motorcycle people, HPDE people, or even the ALMS races is just peanuts in comparison to the value of the entire Nascar package. THE TV $$$$ IS HUGE.

When he bought North Wilkesboro he shut it down. To the best of my knowledge it has never been rented for any reason. To rent a place out for say 15K a weekend isn't worth the time of a man like B. Smith.

I remember when he got divorced around 1990. At that time he only owned Charlotte & Atlanta but his net worth was unbelieveable. The deal his ex got was unbelievable too. All I can say is that I wish he would marry me. (OK well maybe not)

Falcon

She got ~$19 million.

This is from an article in yesterday's Charlotte Observer. Bruton is having a big tif with the city of Concord where Lowe's Motorspeedway is located. He is threatening to shut it down and move to another location because the city pizzed him off.

"Today, Smith, ranks No. 317 on the Forbes 400 list, with a net worth pegged at $1.5 billion.He owns an 11,000-square-foot home in south Charlotte with an assessed tax value of $2.1 million. Scott Smith says his father lives there with his dogs, a big bull mastiff and several German shepherds.

Even though his Sonic Automotive has become one of the nation's largest auto retailers -- with $8 billion in annual revenue -- Smith still reports to work most days at one of his Charlotte dealerships."

Knowing of Bruton's reputation, nothing he would do would surprise me concering the racetracks he owns/controls.

xsiveone

That's what F1 relies on and Bernie gets a huge chunk of it. They can care less about the ticket sales.

AU N EGL

wonder what Burton wants from Concord?

He did say before the Tx race yesterday that he would consider moving LMS, even after the $80 million in renovations that Bank of America paid for.

CF6873

I heard he wants to put in a drag strip for a NHRA national meet and he is getting resistance from the locals.

Falcon

That's what started the big problem Bruton is having with Concord right now.

About 2 months ago he started grading a big piece of land he had across from Lowes MotorSpeedway for a NHRA dragstrip. They had moved tons of dirt when the City of Concord came over and told him to stop and he'd need to get a permit.

They had a hasty city council meeting and a lot of people from the adjoining neighborhoods came in and voiced displeasure with the dragstrip. The city council, bowing to the voter's pressure, said Bruton would have to submit plans and have noise abatement plans and such.

Bruton told them to shove it up their collective asses because he was moving everything out of the county.

Since then the city council has put on the knee pads, bent over and applied the KY Jelly and promised him anything he wants, but he ain't having none of it. No one knows what Bruton will do. He's a very stubborn guys who will only do what's in his best interest.

The jury is still out.

Falcon

These guys worry about ticket sales.

Lowes Motor Speedway has 160,000 seats. Let's assume they sale 125,000 seats at an average of $75 per seat. That's $9,375,000 twice a year.

$18,750,000 gets the attention of the track owners.

Remember, the France family, like Bernie Ecclestone, is the big recipent of TV money. The track owners depend a great deal on the ticket sales.

AU N EGL

and countless revenue from ppl staying at all the hotels ( local hotel tax) and the business brought in by all the spectators.

Good for you Mr Smith

While he has them on their knees Burton should ask for a tax incentive too.

Falcon

They've already offered that.

They've even renamed "Speedway Blvd" (the main thoroughfare to the speedway) to Bruton Smith Blvd.

They have flown airplanes pulling banners saying, "We Love You Bruton" and many other stupid stunts to make him like them again.

The city fathers discovered in very short order that they crapped in their mess kits when they told him to stop the grading. Trying to get back in Bruton's good graces is going to be real expensive. It's really disgraceful what the city/county of Concord has done to try to mend the fence with him.

The county/city has lost Pillotex/Canon Mills, and now Phillip Morris is pulling out, so they can ill afford to lose the racing revenue. There has been a whole tourist village built around Lowes Motorspeedway. Lots and lots of motels and restaurants depend on the speedway for their survival.

Bruton is going to keep them on a string until the very last moment. They should have never tugged on Superman's cape, or tried to pull the mask off of Lone Ranger.

Pucker up Concord, and close your eyes when your lips make contact, otherwise that image will be burned in your mind forever. :o