SMI not moving dates
By Bob Pockrass
Saturday, March 11, 2006
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Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman Bruton Smith reiterated Friday that he would not move dates from one of his tracks to add a second date to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Smith did not rule out, however, that he could buy an existing track and request to move that track's Nextel Cup date.
Just how often does he look into buying another track?
"Not every day, but every week," Smith said prior to a news conference about a new residential tower to be built at Las Vegas. "What we need to do is buy a speedway. I hope some day somebody will give me a phone call or they will knock on the door.
"I am going to answer the door, and within 15 or 20 minutes, the deal will be done."
SMI-owned tracks host 10 Cup events - two each plus the Nextel All-Star Challenge at Charlotte, as well as two at Bristol, Atlanta and Texas, and one at Infineon Raceway. SMI rival International Speedway Corp. owns most of the rest of the Cup tracks.
"I can't tell you where it should be moved from, but we can certainly use another date," Smith said. "This is a great market. This is a fabulous speedway.
"The amenities are second to none. ... We always talk if it is better for the sport. The answer comes up, 'Yes' every time."
Smith also said he wants the series' all-star race to remain in Charlotte, which recently was announced as the site of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Speculation has ranged from Charlotte losing the All-Star race because the hall of fame would make up the lost revenue for the city, to Charlotte keeping the All-Star race long-term to possibly coincide with induction ceremonies.
"If it's not broke, don't fix it," Smith said. "That's the greatest all-star event in the whole country. ... Why would you mess with that? I won't move it, period. We are going to do a great job with it, we're going to continue to grow it, it's going to continue to get bigger and better all the time."
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