By Staff
In the NASCAR world, the last two weeks of May every year revolve around Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. The All-Star race was last Saturday night and the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the season and a Memorial Day staple, will run Sunday night and possibly into Monday morning.
Off the track news, however, has dominated this week dealing with both the track and the track's owner.
In a move out of left field, Humpy Wheeler, the president and general manager of the track, announced his retirement last Wednesday. Wheeler's retirement will be effective Monday, after the race. Considered the premier promoter in the business, Wheeler was at the helm at Lowe's for 33 years.
Reading between the lines, it seems that Wheeler's departure was not totally amicable and that's a shame. According to various press releases, Wheeler indicated that the sudden announcement and departure was not his idea. Wheeler wanted to wait until a time more appropriate than the week between the track's two largest events. Furthermore, when asked what involvement he would have at the track after Sunday, the answer was "none." For someone in a position for 33 years, that is unusual.
Bruton Smith, Wheeler's boss and Chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc, the owner of the track, had nothing but praise for Wheeler, as well he should, but did not attend the press conference. To me, that speaks volumes. But it seems that Smith might have been preoccupied.
The next day, it was announced that Smith had purchased Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, a suburb of Cincinnati. Big announcements like this typically aren't made within a day of each other, but Smith is anything but typical.
The track in Kentucky currently hosts a truck series race, a Nationwide Series race, and an IndyCar event. The former owners of the track have a pending lawsuit against NASCAR because of their inability to attract a Sprint Cup race there. I have a feeling that lawsuit will soon be dropped. Smith didn't buy that track for the current list of events. He wants a Cup race and will get one in 2009.
The question becomes, what race gets moved to Kentucky? There are two big players in track ownership in NASCAR racing, Smith's Speedway Motorsports, Inc and the France family's International Speedway Corp. Those two companies currently own 18 of the 21 tracks that host Sprint Cup races. Smith will not get one of ISC's races, so his only option is to move a race from another track that he currently owns. Or he could buy one of the three tracks-Pocono, Dover, and Indy – not owned by the two giants. How long before we see an announcement that Smith has come to terms with the Mattioli family to purchase Pocono Raceway?
Smith could buy Pocono, shut it down, and move the one race to Kentucky and other to Las Vegas. Smith has badly wanted a second race at Las Vegas and the man usually gets what he wants. I hope it happens and I say good riddance to Pocono. I don't enjoy races at that track and we have to endure two within a six-week period in the middle of the summer.
It is never dull when Bruton Smith is involved, so it will be interesteing to see how this pans out. One thing is for sure, Smith already knows the ending to this story.
The 600-mile race is Sunday night and my pick to win is Jamie McMurray. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and please celebrate wisely.