Smith: Strip Will Be ‘Finest Ever Built’

CONCORD, N.C. — Calling it the “Bellagio of drag strips,” Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Chairman and CEO O. Bruton Smith unveiled plans for a quarter-mile dragway at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Thursday during the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour.
The facility, which will join the 1.5-mile superspeedway and the four-tenths-mile dirt track on the LMS property, will host the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals Sept. 11-14, the first race in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series’ 2008 Countdown to the Championship.
“Drag racing is the perfect complement to the wide variety of motorsports entertainment already on the schedule here at Lowe’s Motor Speedway,” Smith said. “This is a great day for us and for NHRA. I think we’ll help to grow this sport. We need NHRA here.”

A VISION: An artist's rendering shows The Dragway @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.

“Bringing NHRA POWERade Drag Racing to Charlotte, which has evolved into a hot bed for motorsports, makes perfect sense,” said Tom Compton, president of NHRA, who was on hand for the announcement. “The fact that SMI is building yet another first-class facility to entertain our fans, sponsors and race teams speaks volumes to the future growth ahead for NHRA and the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.”
The addition of the Concord strip expands the POWERade Series schedule to 24 races and marks the first time since 1998 that the series will compete in North Carolina. The strip is also the fourth NHRA-sanctioned dragway owned by SMI — Bristol Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway.
Wanting to involve the public in every step of building the new facility, SMI officials have launched a contest asking fans to name the strip, currently called The Dragway @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Fans may enter the contest by visiting www.lowesmotorspeedway.com. The winning individual will receive a VIP experience during the four-day NHRA Carolinas Nationals.
“This is real big,” said 2007 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Champion Matt Smith, a native of North Carolina. “It’s going to mean a lot to North Carolina.”
“People around here are going to be excited to see this (the NHRA POWERade Series), something different,” said Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert, adding, “Bruton will have to build more grandstands.”

LAID OUT: An artist's sketch shows the layout of the new Dragway @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Initial grading work has already begun on the site adjacent to The Dirt Track and construction of the grandstands is slated to begin in early February. The facility is not set to be completed until its inaugural September event, leaving no room for teams to test, yet competitors are not concerned.
“I have confidence in Bruton Smith and his experts,” Herbert said.
“Four of the best tracks are Bruton tracks,” said Funny Car driver Ron Capps. “I got shivers when Bruton talked about the track being the Bellagio. I just want to run up and hug the guy.”
Pro Stock competitor Kurt Johnson also had nothing but praise for Smith and his facilities.
“Bruton Smith’s facilities are the very best in drag racing, so naturally we are more than ready to let the clutch out at his newest track in Concord,” Johnson said in a statement. “You know the facility and the track are going to be top notch and the people running it are going to be the best in the business.”
The addition of what Smith said will be “the finest drag strip that has ever been built” to SMI’s Lowe’s facilities will introduce another type of motorsports to the Charlotte metropolitan area, home of a majority of NASCAR teams and related businesses and industries. In addition to Herbert’s shop in nearby Cherryville, both the Pro Stock efforts of Cagnazzi Racing and the Summit Racing Equipment teams are already based in Mooresville, known as Race City USA.
With another motorsports resource in the area, team owner Victor Cagnazzi believes other NHRA teams will consider relocating to the Charlotte area.

THE DRAGWAY Length: Quarter mile Seating capacity: 30,000 with room to expand to 60,000 Other features: • 40 luxury suites • Two access tunnels beneath the drag strip • 34,000-square-foot starting-line tower • 4,000 square-feet of roof access for guests atop the tower Inaugural event: NHRA Carolinas Nationals, Sept. 11-14 Tickets: Lowesmotorspeedway.com or 1-800-455-FANS

“I truly believe that this will probably be one of the premier events on our circuit. As Bruton said, the better teams will take a serious look at the area,” Cagnazzi said. “I think a lot of teams should look down here and I think that will help everyone. Where else in the country are they going to be able to expose themselves to a media tour like this and be able to introduce their nation in a different way than we are now? I just think it makes a lot of sense in the long run.”
“It may be the heart of NASCAR country, but whether you’re making laps or going down the quarter-mile, to me it’s all pistons, valves and spark plugs firing,” Johnson said. “Besides, the NASCAR teams are fans of NHRA drag racing just like we’re fans of theirs.”
Until late November, the future of an NHRA event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway was uncertain. In October, Smith threatened to raze and relocate the superspeedway and dirt track when Concord city officials rezoned the LMS property to prohibit plans for a proposed drag strip after area residents raised concerns about possible noise pollution from a dragway. Not wanting to call Smith’s bluff, officials quickly back pedaled and began offering Smith incentives to keep the 49-year-old speedway at its current site.
A series of negotiations between the city and SMI officials followed, and Smith agreed to a deal that will see LMS receive $80 million in incentives from the city, county and state in exchange for making $200 million worth of renovations and upgrades to the facility, which includes the drag strip.