#bruton smith

By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer With almost 90 percent of all NASCAR teams based in the Charlotte, North Carolina area, there have been numerous rumors spreading throughout about the potential of certain NASCAR stakeholders having interest in buying the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers, Charlotte’s National Football League (NFL) franchise, is for sale after allegations of workplace misconduct arose…

Sundry Liberties & Free Warren

Business as usual, then….   I never visited the borough of Plumstead[note]Actually, it wasn’t borough, it was one of the neighborhoods in the Borough of Greenwhich[/note] when I was in London…and I’m not sure if it was still called Plumstead back in those brave and terrible days of Nixon’s decline…but I am quite sure I was never there. No, I’m absolutely certain. Just a I’m quite sure (absolutely…

O. Bruton Smith inducted into NASCAR Hall of Fame

A passionate and innovative pioneer in the sport of auto racing, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. founder and Executive Chairman O. Bruton Smith was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Saturday, after dedicating his life to creating unforgettable at-track experiences for millions of race fans across the country. “Being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame is truly an honor,” Smith said. “For nearly…

Charlotte Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith, as he is wont to do, is again making threats, telling some folks that he’s probably going to move one of Charlotte’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Races to Las Vegas. Like we haven’t heard this before.

Las Vegas has less permanent seating (131,000) than Charlotte Motor Speedway (146,000), but since 2010, its single race in March has outdrawn each of the three races in Concord. Jayski.com has compiled the numbers since 2007, and you can see in the chart below that Charlotte was drawing quite well until the recession hit, and attendance took a big hit in 2009:

https://www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?containerId=gviz_canvas&q=select+col0%2C+col1%2C+col2%2C+col3%2C+col4+from+1CudHCJs62GYTO_vGvS3cMvTkynBHVH2PgP-fAH8+order+by+col0+asc+limit+10&viz=GVIZ&t=LINE&uiversion=2&gco_forceIFrame=true&gco_hasLabelsColumn=true&gco_vAxes=%5B%7B%22title%22%3Anull%2C+%22minValue%22%3Anull%2C+%22maxValue%22%3Anull%2C+%22useFormatFromData%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%7B%22useFormatFromData%22%3Atrue%7D%5D&gco_useFirstColumnAsDomain=true&gco_booleanRole=certainty&gco_lineWidth=2&gco_hAxis=%7B%22useFormatFromData%22%3Atrue%2C+%22title%22%3A%22Track%22%7D&gco_title=NASCAR+Announced+Attendance&gco_legend=right&gco_curveType=&att=true&width=875&height=385

(One note: The 2009 May race in Charlotte was postponed from Sunday to a Monday. The original crowd on Sunday was estimated at 160,000, but only 100,000 stuck around for the actual race the next day)

NASCAR attendance has been sliding overall over the last few years, and this year NASCAR is stopping the flow of those disappointing numbers by no longer releasing them, so attendance at this year’s NASCAR races will literally be anyone’s guess.

UPDATE (3:48 p.m.): Smith issued a statement this afternoon:

“The ‘done deal’ report by WBTV regarding moving a race is false. No final decision has been made regarding any race date move, and I have not discussed this with NASCAR.

“Instead of what ‘could’ happen, let’s set the facts straight about what has happened. We’ve invested $100 million in the Charlotte Motor Speedway complex in the past six years to make it even better for the fans. We’ve expanded our fan zone, added pit road suites and built the world’s largest HDTV for every fan to enjoy. We’ve put more people to work with these projects and we’ve added more events to the calendar to bring in more tourists and fans. And we’ve done this during the worst economy since the Great Depression.