Speedway Motorsports Incorporated has purchased The Kentucky Speedway for a reported 78 million dollars. That is a heck of a deal for a track that cost a Hundred and fifty million to build ain’t it? This sounded fishy from the second that I heard of it. It has under the table dealing all over it and stinks to high heaven!

When Jerry Carroll told Nascar that he was going to build a speedway near metropolitan Cincinnati, Nascar advised him not to do it as they were in no way shape form or fashion going to be giving him a cup date anytime in the near or intermediate future. Did Mr. Carroll listen? Obviously not as there sits the Kentucky Speedway without a cup date still. OK lets go to battle in court and try to win a date, forcing Nascar’s hand shall we? Failure in the court system apparently did not phase mister Carroll. He has now sold The Kentucky Speedway to Bruton Smith and Speedway Motorsports Inc. in an obvious attempt to get a cup race out of it. I don’t know what kind of deal went down here but there must be something because you just don’t sell a facility that cost 150 million to build, for 78 million and walk away do you?

This, in my opinion, is just another way for Mr. Big Bucks to try and force a race out of the hands of someone who does not want to let it go. Frankly I am sick and tired of this practice of “Stealing Race Dates” by buying a track with a race date then moving the race and closing the track. We have already lost some historic tracks because of this practice.

THE FACTS

Speedway Motorsports owns Atlanta, Bristol, Infineon, Las Vegas, Lowes Motor Speedway,New Hampshire, and Texas. It now owns The kentucky Motorspeedway. Where will this race date come from? SMI has a history of purchasing tracks to obtain the race dates the track holds. In 1996 the company bought a half interest in the North Wilksboro Speedway along with Bob Bahre of the New hampshire speedway. SMI moved one of the North Wilksboro dates to Texas and Bahre moved the other one to New Hampshire.

Then in 2007 SMI bought the New Hampshire International Speedway and in that move they gained 100% control over North Wilksboro Speedway, effectively sealing its fate. To further fan dismay, a shareholder of the Texas Motor Speedway sued SMI for a second race date and in the results of that suet, SMI took the prestigious Southern 500 from Darlington and gave it to Texas effectively ticking off Many North Carolina Legislators and Millions of fans. now there is talk about moving dates around with Texas and New Hampshire to get the fall Texas date away from the opening weekend of deer season. This of course will have to be approved by Nascar.

WHAT NOW

So where does that leave us as far as a date goes for the Kentucky Motor Speedway? Well Nascar has said that there is not enough time to get a date set for the 2009 season and that I hear, sent Jerry Carroll into a rage! So even if there is to be a cup race there in 2010, where will the date come from? They sure as heck ain’t going to race on Easter Weekend so that means that somebody will have to lose a date right?

There is speculation that Bruton Smith wants to buy Pocono therefore gaining two more dates but Pocono owner Joseph Mattioli said that Pocono has never been for sale nor will it ever be for sale to anyone as long as he is still alive. He said that they will still be racing here in the Pennsylvania mountains when his grandchildren are old and grey. So where are you going to steal a date from now Bruton?

Frankly I am getting sick and tired of all this dirty dealing with absolutely no regard for the fans. I think that these “Fat Cats” have forgotten who the fans are that got this all started. Did you “Big Money Bandits” get the “Almighty Dollar” stuck in your eyes where you can’t see anymore? It is high time to stop this highway robbery of the fans. We are the ones that made you rich in the first place.

ISC or the International Speedway Corporation is not really any better as they also manipulate the system for their own good. The big difference there being that this corporation was started and is still being run by the France family. They have manipulated the schedule in order to get two dates at California, a track that still can’t sell out. Now there is talk of moving dates around with Atlanta and Talladega to get a better weather date for California and Atlanta. I don’t care what you do out there in the LA basin, you are not going to sell out both of those dates at Fontana.

There are only three tracks on the circuit now that are not owned by either ISM or SMI and they are Pocono, who already said no way, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway,which will never be sold to a Nascar type track company, and The Dover International Raceway, who say they might sell their track if the price is right.  So lets recap, Pocono said NO WAY! INDY NEVER! DOVER maybe? Both Dover and Pocono have two dates, so let me tell you what I think ok? Which ever track he can get his hands on, will lose one date Immediately, and then probably lose the other later, effectively sealing the fate of another historic track. I hope they get their hands on neither of them. I’m sick of the whole mess.

 

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