Kentucky Suffers Loss Number One
Kentucky Speedway owner Jerry Carroll confirmed that New Hampshire International Speedway was sold to O. Bruton Smith, the chief executive officer and chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc.
After first being dissed with the speedway’s 2008 schedule this is the first definitive loss for Kentucky.
It was well known Carroll had sugar-plums and NHIS ownership dancing in his head. But considering Bob Bahre’s thoughts (“I wouldn’t (urinate) on the (jerk) if he was on fire.”) on Darrell Waltrip’s association with Kentucky that’s all it was, a dream dancing in his head.
So, Carrol suffers his first big loss in an effort to gain a Cup date for his Sparta speed plant. Let’s not kid ourselves, Carrol had no designs on becoming the next ISC or Speedway Motorsports Inc. with an ownership stake in a string of tracks. He wanted one of the two NHIS Cup dates.
Carrol’s second big loss may have a time to go before it’s chalked up in the “L” column. Samuel Cherry represented Francis Ferko and Texas Motor Speedway in his suit against NASCAR and ISC predicted two years ago Kentucky wouldn’t prevail in their anti-trust lawsuit. Cherry said he declined an opportunity to get involved in Kentucky
Welcome to an article that hits home for me, about NHIS being sold to Smith. That’s my track and I have been going to it for over 8 years and now, who knows… With Smith owning it and one date going to Las Vegas and the other going were ever, I’m not going to be going to another NASCAR race.
It would be a stupid move for NASCAR to let SMI move one let along both cup dates away from NHIS because the market is strong up here and there are lots of sponsors up here that put money (sponsorship) into NASCAR.
Now NASCAR needs to step it and stop the moving of the dates, two cup races in new england and both are sold out. Think about it.
Lets no get all hot & bothered now. Bruton Smith didn’t become a millionaire by being stupid.
Yes one date will move to LVMS sometime after the 2008 season. But there’s no way he’s going to abandon the northeast market be moving both dates.
Take this NHIS future to the bank:
1. From 2009 on events will be as they are now except one Cup date will be replaced by a NCTS or Nationwide (or both) date run in tandum with the Modified Series and the Busch East Series, (or whatever it’s called then) and possibly ARCA RE/MAX.
2. A complete reconstruction of the track to include progressive degree banking ala LVMS and Homestead.
3. And call this one the “ultimate invasion” or a “cross pollination.” The Canadian Tire NASCAR Series will hold it’s first ever south-of-the-border event at NHIS. (may also be held in conjunction with the aforementioned Series’)
And BTW, not to be a smart ass (well actually a big one) but, bet you didn’t complain when Smith and Bahre went in together to buy North Wilkesboro, then abandoned it as each took one of its two race dates elsewhere. The result being your home track than had two Cup dates vice one.
As they say karma is a biiiiatch!
Marc, how little you know me…
First, I will take what you said to heart of Smith with him not abandoning NHIS completely (northeast market)
Second, I wouldn’t doubt seeing other series finally return to track.
Finally, this is where we differ, I was upset with the closing of North Wilksboro Speedway and that goes for the same happening to The Rock (NC Speedway) and the removal of teh Southern 500 which went to a non-sellout track California Speedway.
Staying with how NHIS got its second date, it wasn’t the best way to do it, nor did I like it, howeer I did attend it and btw, that was the first lawsuit against NASCAR from Smith (Texas Motor Speedway) for there second Cup date as well. Look at those events, but I get your point…
The “non-sellout track California” talking point is tired, old and meaningless to me.
It’s a non-sellout not because of Cali fans not wanting to support it but because of the piss poor decision to market “up-scale” i.e. the idiotic Hollyweird crowd. That decision lays squarely in the lap of the tracks president who should be fired.
Secondly that “non-sellout” matches or exceeds anything in actual numbers achieved at Darlington on Labor Day. None of that is to say I don’t miss Labor Day at the Lady in Black but things move on and I refuse to get my jockeys in a sweat over things I can’t control.
As far as the lawsuit issue, lets be clear. Texas got it’s date because of a previous promise made by NASCAR to issue a date to Ferko. Granted, it may never have come to light if it weren’t for the lawsuit but the anti-trust portion of the suit was crap just as Kentucky’s is.