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SMI 'will consider all options' to obtain a Cup date for Kentucky
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Bruton Smith is the chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc.
Andy Lyons
Getty Images for NASCAR
Speedway Motorsports Inc. has requested that a Sprint Cup race be moved to Kentucky Speedway and “will consider all options” to get one there as soon as possible, according to its annual report filed Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
SMI bought the track in Sparta, Ky., last year for $78.3 million, including $63.3 million in assumption of debt, and wants to realign a Cup date to the 1.5-mile oval. But NASCAR Chairman Brian France has stated that the sanctioning body will not consider realignment as long as an antitrust lawsuit filed by the track's founders remains unresolved.
SMI Chairman Bruton Smith said March 6 at Atlanta Motor Speedway that he had not yet requested the realignment but wanted a Cup date there in 2010.
“The Company has requested realignment of a Sprint Cup Series race at the earliest possible time and will consider all options if NASCAR denies such realignment request,” the company stated in its filing.
It does not elaborate whether “all options” would include legal action. SMI spokesman Scott Cooper said he could not elaborate on the wording in the annual report.
If SMI sued NASCAR over the date, the settlement signed in 2004 in a case with Texas Motor Speedway shareholder Francis Ferko could come into play. According to the settlement agreement, SMI agrees not to sue NASCAR over “allegations or assertions with respect to the awarding and/or sanctioning of races” but SMI does have the right to sue on issues “different in nature or scope from the current practices” that have occurred since that settlement.
The Kentucky Speedway founders are suing NASCAR and International Speedway Corp., alleging that they conspire to keep independent tracks from obtaining Sprint Cup dates. NASCAR, a privately held sanctioning body owned by the France family, and ISC, a publicly traded track-operating company whose majority of voting stock is owned by the France family, deny those claims. SMI is considered a co-conspirator in the case.
The case is in U.S. Appeals Court in Cincinnati with the Kentucky Speedway founders appealing a U.S. District Court judge's ruling that there is not enough evidence to have a trial. The earliest a hearing could be held in the case is April 20, and NASCAR typically begins its sanctioning process for the upcoming year in May. A decision from the appeals court could come anywhere from a few weeks to a few months following the hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.
“We are unable to predict whether the KS litigation will be decided in favor of KS, and, until a Sprint Cup Series race is held at KS, we are likely to incur cash and non-cash operating losses that negatively impact our future financial condition, operating results and cash flows,” the company states in its filing.
SMI is looking at getting the track, which currently has 69,000 seats, ready for a Sprint Cup event.
“Depending on the amounts and limits of passed tax incentives, the Company is contemplating expanding permanent seating at KS by 50,000, significantly modernizing and expanding concessions, camping, restrooms and other speedway facilities, and reconfiguring and expanding on-site roads, available parking, traffic patterns and entrances,” the company wrote. “The contemplated expansion and improvements may involve material capital expenditures over several years in amounts that have not yet been determined.”
Adding 50,000 seats would give SMI six tracks with more than 100,000 permanent seats, according to the annual report. Currently, Texas and Bristol have 158,000 apiece, followed by Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte (156,000), Las Vegas (131,000) and Atlanta (101,000). New Hampshire has 96,000 and the Infineon road course has 47,000.
The Charlotte track dropped from 162,000 to 156,000 following a grandstand renovation project last year, and SMI plans to remove approximately 10,000 more seats this year to create high-end recreational vehicle areas.
A similar project at Texas Motor Speedway will eliminate approximately 22,000 seats.
Other items in the SMI annual report:
• SMI earned 83 percent of its total revenues from NASCAR-sanctioned events. Last year it was 82 percent. Of its revenues, approximately 28 percent came from NASCAR’s television package.
• SMI has 828 full-time and 286 part-time employees. Last year, the company reported 770 full-time and 214 part-time employees, but that was prior to the purchases of New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.
• Smith owns approximately 68 percent of the voting stock in the company, compared to 67 percent a year ago.
• SMI’s long-term debt is $686.5 million, down from $728.5 million reported last year.
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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22 responses to "SMI 'will consider all options' to obtain a Cup date for Kentucky". Post a Comment.
terry johnson said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 1:13 PMbruton acts like a bully,thinks he can do anything he wants just because he is rich.he should put more thought into what the fans want before he starts taking dates from one track to another.i have been a fan for over 30 years and seems like every year the b.s. gets deeper. there I feel better!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJeffery Gordon said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 1:34 PMWE can't wait for a KS date!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDoug Yanak said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 2:43 PMIf everyone and that includes FANS listened to the Smarts of Bruton the sport of NASCAR would be better off.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJoe Dudas said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 2:46 PMI hope "will consider all options" does not mean that NHIS will loose one of it's dates.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJim Bayliss said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 2:48 PMBruton and NASCAR are both rich. So they have the right to expect at least some things to go their way. When they clash, then they have to figure out some agreement they can both live with. Although bottom line, IS bottom line, they know all too well that they only get that by keeping the fans happy. Even more important now that the economy is so bad. Tracks need someone like Bruton, as the smaller individual tracks get all walked over by NASCAR.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportMax Finkelberg said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 3:09 PMYou know, I hate Bruton Smith, but there could be a Cup date at Kentucky, maybe next year, maybe 2011. Maybe I could like Smith then. Who knows?!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportHoward Englishman said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 3:19 PMBruton is the best thing that happened to this sport. ISC needs to take pointers from all of his tracks and maybe people will come to theres.Bruton has beautiful fan friendly tracks with beautiful bathrooms and shower houses and golf carts and transportation and he puts on a hell of a prerace show. The only date he will take is the spring Atlanta race. He will never take a date from NHMS because he loved the crowd it got last year and is even thinking about moving the track toward the back of the property and adding night racing. He doesn't back down to Frances and thats what makes him who is is. If you ever met him, he is one of the nicest guys around next to Humpy that is.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJerry Allison said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 3:50 PMI would go to Kentucky for a race , and yes Bruton has done a lot for NASCAR fans , and the tracks he owns .
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» Confirm Abuse ReportGordon King said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 4:40 PMSmith would be foolish to cut a race from New Hampshire. It is one of the few tracks on the circuit where every race is sold out and has been since it opened.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTim the Fan said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 6:24 PMI can't believe so many fans support Bruton Smith. In a year with the economy so bad, and most tracks are lowering prices, Bruton actually raised my Bristol tickets. Last year for me to go. Maybe that's why he's not sold out next week. Greed is a terrible thing. As for Kentucky, I think it would be great for fans to have a Cup date there, but if Bruton's got anything to do with it, then I'm against it.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner Boehmert said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 7:26 PMTim...don't know why your Britol tix wnet up, ours didn't...any think that there will ever be a split with Bruton and NASCAR...there was talk in the past of Bruton starting up his own series...
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» Confirm Abuse Reportchris Stephens said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 8:05 PMIf Bruton was younger maybe he would consider a split but I think he has been successful with NASCAR so why would he want to. I hope he gets a date with KY. that would make for some excellent racing.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBernie said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 9:03 PMWhere's Worm Dirt when Yoda needs defending?
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» Confirm Abuse ReportHARRY THIBEDEAU said:
Mar 15, 2009 at 2:59 AMI agree with the comment about Bruton being a bully. The guy is a big-bucks blow-hard and it amazes me that fans think he has their best interests at heart.
Report as AbuseThe fan experience is MUCH better at an ISC race than any SMI track (with the exception of Bristol)...and ANYBODY would be successful with Bristol...it is an amazing track.
NASCAR should tell Bruton that he will get a race in Kentucky a couple days after the Devil starts chipping ice off his sidewalks...
Bruton wants only one thing -- more $$'s for Bruton. One needs only look at his track record of buying and then shutting down great race tracks just so he could steal their dates.
I hope he has to sit on his unwise investment in Kentucky till the grass is 6 feet high in the infield. It would only serve him right!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJay Hauser said:
Mar 15, 2009 at 6:49 AMI do not like Bruton Smith, but I am all for California Speedway losing a date to Kentucky. Odds are that won't happen and they'll take a date away from a track that doesn't deserve to lose a race.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportGreg Leister said:
Mar 15, 2009 at 7:20 AMI am all for tracks having at least one date - been to Vegas, they have a great fan experience in the Neon Garage more of Bruton's tracks should have one. In my own. . ISC and SMI tracks could rotate the 2nd dates every year
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRobert Chapman said:
Mar 15, 2009 at 11:25 AM. . . I attended the first race held @ Ky Speedway in 2000 (ARCA). And I've only missed one Nationwide (Busch Series) race there (in 2003 to go to MIS for the Cup race). I live south of Frankfort, within a two hour drive from the track. I can not wait for a Cup race @ Ky . . . I won't miss a race ! . . . racefanrob
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdavid lindahl said:
Mar 15, 2009 at 1:15 PMYou know Bruton is a "good ole boy" who has helped build NASCAR into what it is today (a lot like Bill Jr.) So what if he makes a ton of money, all NASCAR fans benefit from his efforts. I remember when NASCAR was a "southern redneck sport" not the major sporting event it is today. Never the less lets face facts NASCAR and ISC are a monopoly.
Report as AbuseThe France family should sell either NASCAR or ISC.
And they should "GIVE KENTUCKY A DATE".
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» Confirm Abuse ReportEverett Suchland said:
Mar 15, 2009 at 3:45 PMMr. Greed, Bruton Smith, is at it again. This man will not be satisfied until he owns every NASCAR track in existence. If he wants a race at the Kentucky location, let him take one from Atlanta where they have thousands of empty seats for every cup race.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportOLD_GUY said:
Mar 16, 2009 at 2:17 AMSMI Chair & CEO Bruton Smith suggested that implementing local TV blackouts if races do not sell out might be "good for racing,".
Report as Abuse"Racing" in this context = "My Pocketbook".
How soon we forget the words of the Pillsbury doughboy. 8-(
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJack Keough said:
Mar 16, 2009 at 11:06 AMgee i can see why old Bruton is so bad all he wants to do is make more money unlike all of the rest of us who are satisfied with what we have
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» Confirm Abuse ReportFRANK LAVACCA said:
Mar 17, 2009 at 1:36 AMit would be great to get a race at kentucky speed way.take one from texas.boring race,or california,really boring.
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» Confirm Abuse Report