FanHouse BrutonSmith

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR has a "town hall meeting" scheduled with its drivers next week.

The sport's longtime rival, Bruton Smith, held one of his own Saturday.

Smith, the outspoken, multimillionaire chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., ripped NASCAR for choosing not to disclose the banned substance involved in driver Jeremy Mayfield's suspension, for dropping record penalties on underfunded driver Carl Long and for the kind of racing created with the Car of Tomorrow.

Consider the effort to get NASCAR Sprint Cup racing in the Bluegrass State officially underway.

Monday, Speedway Motorsports Incorporated's Bruton Smith talked at Lowe's Motor Speedway about how he's revamping his recent Kentucky Speedway purchase, and more importantly, his plan to lobby NASCAR for a Sprint Cup date at the track in 2010.

But, come on, does NASCAR really need another 1.5-miler on its schedule -- even if it likely replaces another cookie-cutter track?

Friday afternoon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. graced the web pages of Sports Illustrated after writer Bruce Martin hung around with the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for a day's-worth of commercial work recently.

The piece was mostly centered around Earnhardt Jr.'s status as a commercial icon and previewed an ad for sponsor GoDaddy.com that will feature fellow Hendrick/JR Motorsports driver Brad Keselowski, but as we've come to expect from Earnhardt Jr., the driver didn't hold back when asked about some comments made during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Media tour just a few weeks back.

Those comments centered around Speedway Motorsports, Inc., chairman Bruton Smith claiming that the drivers need to do a little more to help sell tickets in the struggling climate that faces the 2009 season.

Never will a season go by in the NASCAR world without Speedway Motorsports, Inc., chairman Bruton Smith stirring things up.

Fans got a glimpse of that earlier this week during the annual Sprint Cup Media Tour hosted by one of his tracks, Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Smith, answering a question from a reporter on attendance issues, brought up an interesting point for the sport as a whole to consider.

Should NASCAR be putting local blackouts on races that aren't sold out?

Bruton Smith and Speedway Motorsports Inc. won't be getting their hands on Pocono Raceway any time soon in his bid to make a race date available to his latest acquisition of Kentucky Speedway.

Rose Mattioli told The Associated Press on Tuesday there are no plans to sell Pocono, which currently has two Sprint Cup races, and there will be racing on the mountaintop for at least "as long as our grandkids live."

"It never was available; it never will be available," said Mattioli, who owns the track with her husband, Joseph. "My husband has stated that over and again. That's it."

The track is "entrusted" to the Mattioli's grandchildren, and because of that, the family isn't selling one of NASCAR's three remaining race tracks not owned by International Speedway Corp. or SMI.

However, the track did open on Tuesday for some scheduled Sprint Cup Series testing.

Teams, fresh off the 600 miles at Lowe's Motor Speedway Sunday night, headed to Pennslyvania for the test which runs through Wednesday evening at the three-turn wanna-be road course track

Tuesday, teams got in about 4 hours of practice until rain canceled activities for the day -- meaning many, many Sprint Cup drivers were likely bored out of their minds.

David Gilliland paced the session while Dario Franchitti made his first laps in a stock car after getting injured over a month ago at Talladega.

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

Today was simply an off day for all of the NASCAR teams in Charlotte, as there was no on-track activity at Lowe's Motor Speedway. In other words, if you had a boat on Lake Norman in nearby Mooresville, N.C., you'd likely have seen your fair share of drivers and team members enjoying the day.

Despite the fact that I've found myself a bit under the weather, we managed to kick up some dust today in and around the Concord area. Here's a look back on some of the sights:

• For those who worried that the "Sea of Red" wouldn't change to a "Sea of Green" after Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s departure from DEI, there is nothing to be concerned about. In fact, I tried to see one person walking around today with a No. 8 Budweiser shirt on, and they were nowhere to be found.
• For as long as I've been here, the main drive leading from I-85 to LMS was "Speedway Blvd." until this year, when it became "Bruton Smith Blvd." The name change came as a concession made the Concord City Council after they tried to challenge Bruton on his new drag strip and lost big time. That's a nice reminder to the Council about what not to do when working with a billionaire whose product has brought so much to your community.
  
• Speaking of that new drag strip (horribly named zMax Dragway @ Concord) it's coming along quite quickly with many of the main buildings erected, the stands and suites coming to shape, and the track grading in progress. Of course when the first race at the track is in September...

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

Generally, when Bruton Smith says he'll do something, he's gonna do it.

So when Smith promised both the ownership group of Kentucky Speedway and the world at a news conference on Thursday confirming his purchase of the facility that Kentucky would have a Sprint Cup race date in 2009, you've got to believe it will happen.

But at what cost to other race dates?

The only obvious answer I've got is that next season, at least one race at a current track will be eliminated in favor of the event in the Bluegrass State.

There are now three race tracks left on the Sprint Cup schedule not owned by either International Speedway Corp. or Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. Those tracks are Indianapolis (one race), Dover (two races), and Pocono (two races).

The final two in that list are both on Smith's radar for purchase with the primary goal of moving one of those race dates to Kentucky. If such a deal can't happen, Smith may move a race date from one of his current race tracks, though the track presidents from Atlanta and New Hampshire Motor Speedways have released statements that they are signing agreements with NASCAR for 2009 race dates on Friday.

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

As I left Indianapolis Wednesday afternoon, I read that NASCAR's penultimate promoter, H.A. Humpy Wheeler of Lowe's Motor Speedway, was retiring effective after Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.

Humpy has long been the most recognizable track president on the Sprint Cup tour, and with that, he has been a fan favorite. His retirement, to say the least, was a shock.

Thursday the Charlotte Observer offered a little bit more into why Wheeler is exiting his role and it definitely helps affirm how big of a surprise his move is.

It turns out that Humpy is retiring, but not completely on his own terms.

H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler said Wednesday his retirement as president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway and as president and chief operating officer of Speedway Motorsports Inc. did not come entirely on his own terms.

"Some of it is," Wheeler said in officially announcing his decision. "I won't say it all is. We'll just leave it at that."

The "that" Wheeler is referring to is a rift between himself and the owner of SMI, Bruton Smith.

What: UAW-Dodge 400
Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
When: Sunday, March 2, 3:30pm on FOX (Green Flag 4:30pm/ET)
Distance: 267 laps, 400 miles
Weather: Sunny, with a high near 65. Breezy, with a north northwest wind between 20 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. (Source: National Weather Service)
2007 Winner: Jimmie Johnson (going for four-in-a-row at LVMS)
Predictions: Keep Reading

Just a few months ago, the Concord, N.C.-area was facing the prospect of losing on of the nation's premiere racing facilities. Thursday, it was announced that the area will instead get another top-notch locale for a different form of racing.

A brand-spankin' new top-of-the-line drag strip temporarily named "The Drag Strip @ Lowe's Motor Speedway".

With an initial capacity of 30,000 and the option for double that, the NHRA already has an event on the 2008 schedule at the yet-to-be-built drag strip in September for the Carolina's Nationals. The area is already well-known for its support of the stock car racing community and seemingly another form of motorsports is a great fit in a relatively untapped market -- the exception being the Bristol Dragway a few hours away.

Plans for the controversial 1/4 mile track were officially given out by Speedway Motorsports head Bruton Smith in front of the NASCAR media tour audience.

The design is definitely not going to make this venue "just another part" of the Lowe's Motor Speedway complex. A part of the 125-acre development, the main tower at the starting line of the drag strip will offer 34,000 square feet of suites, scoring, a press box, and broadcast booths.

Tunnels will be constructed underneath of the race track to allow for spectators to access both sides easily, as well as easier access to the NHRA pit area widely known for its unrestricted access to all fans.

All of that, of course, will need to be finished by September. Wow.

Frankly, the track is going to be beautiful and very, very well done and I'd be the first one to be completely shocked if Bruton doesn't sell out the eliminations day for the next five years of the venue.