Lowe's Motor Speedway News

News covering Lowe's Motor Speedway, SMI, Burton Smith and more

Updated: 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Tainted gasoline causes trouble for race fans: Several NASCAR fans who had to endure the weather problems at Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend had another surprise waiting for them when they tried to go home -- car problems. The rain apparently flooded the gas tanks of a nearby gas station and people unknowingly fueled up their cars with water-tainted gas. It happened at the Petro Express on North Tryon Street at Mallard Creek Road. Police say they responded to at least eight calls of stranded motorists affected by the tainted gasoline. (Charlotte Observer)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Lowe's Motor Speedway to honor David Poole: On Thursday, Lowe Motor Speedway will dedicate the deadline room in its infield media center in honor of David Poole, the Charlotte Observer and ThatsRacin.com writer who died April 28. In addition to his work with the newspaper and its racing site, Poole was an author of numerous books about racing and the sport's personalities. He was a respected authority on stock car racing and his opinions were often sought by others in the media and officials of more than one racing brand. A frequent guest commentator on TV and radio, Poole also co-anchored a popular XM-Sirius program. His wife, Katy, is scheduled to be on hand to receive a special donation to one of the writer and broadcaster's favorite charities.(ThatsRacin.com)

Friday, May 15, 2009

Lowe's fall race changed to "NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America" because of federal bailout? Now known as the Bank of America 500, the Oct. 17 Sprint Cup at Lowe's Motor Speedway will have a new name this fall: the "NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America." Bank officials say the change will highlight an affinity banking program started in 2007 in which customers can get cards and checks printed with a NASCAR driver's image, as well as earn "RacePoints" to redeem for merchandise, race tickets or special events. The switch comes as banks and other corporations receiving federal bailout money have faced more scrutiny for spending on big events. After Northern Trust Corp. was slammed for its sponsorship and spending at the Northern Trust Open in California, Wells Fargo in February removed the Wachovia name from the professional golf tournament held every spring in Charlotte. The bank declined to attach its own name, instead calling it the Quail Hollow Championship. Bank of America officials say renaming the October race isn't an attempt to downplay the bank's name, noting that it and the bank's red and blue logo are included in the new name. (Charlotte Observer)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Ceremony set for North Carolina Auto Racing Walk of Fame: The town known as Race City USA has a new and lasting attraction for motorsports fans: a “walk of fame” honoring many of the all-time greatest NASCAR drivers. A Raleigh company recently installed 13 granite and terrazzo markers in downtown Mooresville that include portraits of drivers who have been inducted into the Mooresville-based N.C. Auto Racing Hall of Fame. The sidewalk tributes span much of the 200 block of North Main Street in front of the Charles Mack Citizen Center. Drivers include such legends as Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Ned Jarrett, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and the late Dale Earnhardt. Their portraits are from images in museums in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Talladega, Ala. Petty, Pearson, Earnhardt's daughter, Kelley Earnhardt, and many of the other drivers plan to greet fans at a ceremonial unveiling of the N.C. Auto Racing Walk of Fame at 2:30 p.m. May 20 outside the Citizen Center.(ThatsRacin.com)

Thursday, May 7, 2009

NASCAR fans already camping out at Lowe's Motor Speedway: Though the NASCAR All-star Race and Coca-Cola 600 are weeks away, some fans are already arriving at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte for the May races. For the next two and a half weeks, Wisconsin resident Neil Van Der Jagt plans to live in his RV outside the speedway. As a retired accountant, he said his life is NASCAR. "It's just something that gets into your blood and it's hard to get it out of, and you just continue coming and enjoying and really liking the races," he said. Speedway officials expect 8,000 RVs to fill the lots in the coming days, which will bring between 2,000 and 30,000 people and a surge to the economy. (News 14)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

SMI profits drop 34% in first quarter: Speedway Motorsports, which owns Lowe's Motor Speedway and other major NASCAR tracks, this morning reported a first quarter 2009 profit of more than $20.3 million, down 34 percent from a year earlier. Total revenues for the Concord-based company were less than $133.6 million, down 14 percent. Admissions revenues fell almost 13 percent, while event-related revenue dropped nearly 24 percent. Speedway Motorsports venues held five major NASCAR races in the first quarter, compared with six in the same period for 2008. The company also cited the recession and a pullback in fan spending -- at races and for NASCAR merchandise -- as reasons for the revenue decline. "While our first quarter results reflect that challenging economic conditions continue, we remain confident that (the company's) business model continues to provide us with greater resilience than most other industries,” said Marcus Smith, chief operating officer and president, in a statement. (ThatsRacin.com)

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Sam Brass unveils special edition Lowe's Motor Speedway programs: Renowned motorsports artist Sam Bass, along with officials from Lowe's Motor Speedway, today unveiled two original paintings that will grace the covers of souvenir programs for two of the most significant events in the track's history: the 25th edition of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the 50th running of the iconic Coca-Cola 600. A high impact illustration entitled "Silver Knights!" appears on the cover of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race souvenir publication, while the Coca-Cola 600 program features an equally poignant artwork called "Gold Rush!" Of course, the titles allude to the silver and golden anniversaries of the two prestigious events. "Producing the cover artwork for these two spectacular anniversary events certainly presented me with one of the biggest creative challenges I have ever faced in my career," said Sam Bass, the official artist of Lowe's Motor Speedway. (LMS PR)

Monday, May 4, 2009

Bruton Smith wants mandate standard for catch fences: The chairman of Speedway Motorsports says NASCAR should mandate a standard catch-fence system for all sanctioned tracks following the recent crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He already has begun construction on a new system at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that will be in place when the Sprint Cup series goes there next month. "Let's fix it because the sport is at risk," Bruton Smith said on Monday at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "Cables [that provide strength to the fence] are just like fishing lines. You have a certain test lines. Cables can be like a quarter inch and have a 90,000 PSI [pounds per square inch]. "That's the things we need to do at all these speedways to make sure we have the strongest there is." (ESPN.com)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

NASCAR upset with Lowe's Motor Speedway promotion: A top NASCAR official expressed some clear displeasure Monday about a Lowe's Motor Speedway promotion tying ticket prices to how many cars were involved in the biggest accident at Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. The LMS promotion was announced last week, a couple of days before seven fans were injured in a spectacular wreck on the last lap Sunday at Talladega. "To be honest, we'd rather not dignify that type of promotion with a comment," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications, during a news teleconference Monday afternoon. LMS had offered to sell 1,000 tickets combined to May 16th's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and May 24th's Coca-Cola 600, pricing them at a dollar per car involved in the most significant on-track incident at Talladega. For years, Talladega has been ripe for significant pileups - sometimes called "The Big One" by media, fans and drivers - in part because of the speeds cars travel and how closely they race on the 2.66-mile track. This year, the biggest wreck came on the seventh lap and involved 14 cars. At noon Monday, LMS began offering the 1,000 tickets for $14. (ThatsRacin.com)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Despite big losses Sonic Automotive CEO Bruton Smith pay jumps 60%: As chairman and chief executive of Sonic Automotive, Bruton Smith received more than $4.2 million in compensation last year, a nearly 60 percent increase over 2007. Most of that gain, however, was from nearly $2.4 million in exercised stock options, according to a company filing Thursday with federal regulators. Without that, Smith received about $1.8 million – about 30 percent less than in 2007, when he got a much bigger bonus but didn't exercise any options. The Observer counts salary, bonuses, stock awards, gains from exercised options and perks as total pay. A Charlotte-based Fortune 500 company, Sonic is one of the nation's largest auto dealers, with 164 franchises in 15 states. The company and its competitors have been battered in the recession, which has severely curbed vehicle purchases. Sonic last week reported a fourth-quarter loss of $685.6 million, compared with a $23 million profit a year earlier. (ThatsRacin.com)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

All-Star race to end with 10-lap shootout: NASCAR's annual All-Star race will end with a 10-lap final shootout to create a dramatic finish that previously defined the $1 million event. The race at Lowe's Motor Speedway will still be 100 laps, but it will be split into four segments and culminate with the final sprint to the finish. NASCAR, track and sponsor officials announced the new format Wednesday. Some of the most memorable moments in event history came during a 10-lap final segment, including Rusty Wallace's race-winning spin of Darrell Waltrip in 1989 and the side-by-side race to the checkered flag between Kyle Petty and Davey Allison in 1992. "What better way to celebrate the 25th running of this great event than incorporate that element back into the format?'' said NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton, who was Petty's crew chief for the 1992 losing battle with Allison. (SI.com)

Sprint to give fans unprecedented access at NASCAR All-Star race: Sprint today announced exclusive access to a typically private race weekend tradition, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver/crew chief meeting. It is the first time in NASCAR’s 61-year history that race fans have been invited to listen live to the pre-race meeting between NASCAR officials, drivers and crew chiefs. This one-time opportunity will be available to fans before the 25th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race May 16 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The audio broadcast will be streamed exclusively on Sprint phones via NASCAR Sprint Cup MobileSM for customers away from the track and on NASCAR Sprint FanView for race fans at the track. The meeting audio will be available on NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile for repeat listening through the following week. “The driver/crew chief meeting is one of the few areas in NASCAR still closed to the public; this is an incredibly fan-friendly sport with more access for fans than most, if not all, sports,” said Steve Gaffney, director of sports and entertainment marketing for Sprint. “The driver meeting is about as ‘inside’ as one can get, and we take a great deal of pride in using our technology and position in the sport to deliver this unique experience to NASCAR fans.” Meeting attendance is mandatory for all drivers and crew chiefs starting the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race each week. NASCAR penalizes any driver or crew chief who misses or is late to the meeting by requiring that team to start at the rear of the field, regardless of qualifying position. In addition to this content, Sprint customers also will be treated to SPEED’s TV broadcast of NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXV in its entirety on Sprint wireless phones via NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile. (SPRINT PR)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Stimulus money to be used for road work at Lowes: The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to spend $3.5 million in federal stimulus dollars for road work by Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord. The project is part of $75 million in road improvements Bruton Smith asked for two years ago in return for keeping his racetrack in Concord. The city of Concord and Cabarrus County agreed that Smith would pay for the work and be reimbursed years later. Morehead Road, which runs along the south side of the track, would be widened and moved away from the speedway. The 3/4-mile project isn't needed to handle day-to-day traffic, but realigning the road will allow the speedway to place vendors adjacent to the track during race weekends. Pedestrians won't have to cross the road as often, making the area safer. (ThatsRacin.com)

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Sprint All-Star race to change format: The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race will have a different format in 2009, Lowe’s Motor Speedway President Marcus Smith confirmed Friday, but he declined to elaborate. Following a news conference to promote the second annual burnout contest and announce that retired wrestler Ric Flair would be the honorary all-star race director, Smith talked in vague terms about how this year’s format will be different. During the news conference, it was just referred to as a 100-lap event. Last year, the event was split into four 25-lap segments. “We are working on some changes that will be forthcoming – some neat things that we’re going to be changing up,” Smith said. “They’ll be exciting for the fans.” A NASCAR spokesman also declined to comment on potential changes to the non-points event. (SceneDaily.com)

Friday, March 13, 2009

Goodyear tire testing at LMS: Goodyear is scheduled to hold a tire test at Lowe's Motor Speedway with four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams representing each of the series manufacturers next week in preparation for the track's May races, including the 25th NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 16, and the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24. Drivers scheduled to test at No. 9-Kasey Kahne (Dodge), No. 48-Jimmie Johnson (Chevy), No. 47-Marcos Ambrose (Toyota) and No. 98-Paul Menard. During both days of the Goodyear tire test, Lowe's Motor Speedway's frontstretch grandstand will be open free of charge from 9am - 5pm and fans should enter through Gate 5A, located next to the main ticket office. Additionally, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 ticket holders will have access to an infield grandstand on Wednesday, March 18, from 10am to 5pm, and can participate in a special fan forum featuring all four drivers from 12 - 1pm. Ticket holders for Lowe's Motor Speedway's May Cup races will need to check in at the speedway's ticket office to receive verification of their ticket purchase before entering the infield at Gate 26.(LMS PR)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Sprint All-Star weekend announcement: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Weekend Announcements on Friday, March 13th, Lowe's Motor Speedway officials, with the help of SPEED, 2007 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race champion Kevin Harvick and one very special guest, will make several announcements at the Time Warner Media Center, Lowe's Motor Speedway infield regarding the 25th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 16.