The home to New England’s only Nextel Cup races is being sold, a move that leaves the future of NASCAR racing at New Hampshire International Speedway uncertain, according to a published report.
Sources have told The Boston Globe that NHIS chairman Bob Bahre has agreed to sell his track to O. Bruton Smith, who is the CEO and chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc.
An announcement is expected to come Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, site of this weekend’s Race to the Chase stop. Texas Motor Speedway is owned by Smith’s SMI group.
While track owners certainly wield influence over when they host races, NASCAR retains control of the actual dates of the races on its schedule.
SMI owns several race tracks that host two Nextel Cup events each, including Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Texas Motor Speedway hosts two events as well. SMI also owns Infineon Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which currently host one Cup race each year.
The Loudon races at New Hampshire play a key part in deciding NASCAR’s champion. The July date is the first of 10 NASCAR races that serve as a prelude to the Chase for the Cup, or NASCAR’s 10-race playoff system, which kicks off at NHIS in September.
Any time a track is sold, the status of its Nextel Cup races always becomes a hot topic. There has been talk that one or both of Loudon’s dates could be taken away and a likely recipient of one date would be Las Vegas, but according to the report, that might not happen.
Another possible scenario would be that NHIS swaps one of its dates with Texas, leaving TMS as the starting point to NASCAR’s playoffs.
“Bruton’s a businessman,” the source told The Globe. “He sees how well they’ve done up there.”
Loudon has sold out 26 consecutive races, according to The Globe.
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This is BIG news. First, let me say that during the wrestling match over North Wilksboro; Bob Bahre and Bruton Smith became unlikely partners. Each owning 50% of the historical speedway, neither willing to sell his half to the other. The outcome was New Hampshire got a second race and Texas Motor Speedway got it’s spring racedate. North Wilksboro has since become a weed farm with little hope for a future. Now comes news that SMI has purchased the NHIS. Will Bruton strip one or both race dates to go elsewhere?
Stay tuned for an announcement from TMS on Friday.
5 Comments
$340 MILLION. that is the purchase price. Not a bad return on investment for the Bahre family. Bahre spent about $25 Million to build the oversized version of Martinsville. Funny how it works so well at martinsville and not so well at New Hampshire. Here is an idea for SMI to consider. Go ahead and take the second race for Las Vegas. Sounds good to me if they want to begin the Chase at Texas and go to Vegas in the week currently used by TMS.
Now, I ain’t through yet. Do what Bob Bahre should have done years ago. Move the backstretch wall out about 40 feet. that will change the turning radius off turn 2 and the approach to turn 3. Next, increase the bank from the flat 9 degrees to about 18 degrees. The result would make a somewhat ‘D’ shaped oval with some higher banks to race on.
No offense to you fans in the New England area. In Grumpy’s opinion, that track has always sucked! The fact that Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin jr both lost their lives there put this track on my least favorite racing venues list.
I think your ideas are sound, grump, and your sentiments entirely understandable …
I had a little different take on SMI’s purchase strategy tonight, grin … but, then again … I like to cause trouble, and I always want to see Bruton carve his own space out of the monopoly pie.
(If anyone’s going to re-do that track, though … you know it’ll be him … let’s hope he takes your advice.)
Once again, take a look at David Poole’s latest blog entry. it is about the NHIS purchase. It is a good read. I postd a long winded comment on his site.
You? Long-winded? lol — I thought that was my job!
Give us the link, darlin’, or copy/paste here (or in a fresh post) — I can’t remember which blog is his!! (grin … I know, I know — it’s already been a long weekend!)
http://turn-lane.blogspot.com
I have it in my google reader!!
I learned that from you, dear.
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