Concord Continues To Court Smith

I almost choked on my Cheerios.

According to the local morning news, Concord (N.C.) and Cabarrus County officials unanimously voted last night to petition the state to rename Speedway Boulevard to Bruton Smith Boulevard. The vote is just another attempt to convince the billionaire to keep Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord.

The whole fiasco began Oct. 1 when Concord city officials changed the zoning on the speedway property to ban drag strips after area residents complained Smith’s planned $60 million strip would cause their property values to plummet and the noise would disturb their children’s sleeping patterns.

SKYWARD: The Cabarrus (N.C.) County Convention and Visitors Bureau's latest attempt to convince Bruton Smith to keep Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord took to the sky this week. (John Clayton Photo)

The council voted to halt construction. Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., owner of five other facilities, said he had the $350 million necessary to move the 1.5-mile oval, the .4-mile dirt track and the proposed drag strip to another location outside of Concord.

Officials quickly countered, saying that the situation had escalated out of control and the vote was only temporary until speedway officials could provide more data on how much noise Smith’s drag strip would generate.

But the days — and now weeks — passed, and Smith made no move to accept Concord’s backpedaling. Alternative sites have been examined. Offers from neighboring areas, including Rowan County, just north of Cabarrus, have come rolling in to tempt Smith away from the county who snubbed him and its ungrateful residents who chose to take up residence near a 47-year-old facility that stood long before any of their cookie-cutter housing developments and has paid millions in area taxes year after year. Just days before the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s, Smith told reporters that there’s a 90 percent chance he will build a new facility somewhere else, raze the existing track and sell the property.

And that’s when the dance began. First there was the emergency move by city officials to offer Smith tax incentives in the neighborhood of $2.4 million, according to a report by the Charlotte Observer. Online petitions and Web sites went up, asking for signatures to show Smith how many people wanted LMS to remain in Concord. Supporters were present at the speedway during race week, handing out information to spectators.

Next came a unanimous vote by Concord city council to reverse its original decision to ban the drag strip. Smith called the move a “small step” to healing the rift between the speedway and Concord.

Then came a plane, hired by the Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau, circling above the speedway with a banner reading, “We (heart) you, Burton. Stay in Concord. SaveLMS.com.”  Similar banners hang from the top of the Embassy Suites Hotel Resort and Conference Center just down the street from the speedway.

But now Concord wants to rename Speedway Boulevard, the four-lane traffic snarl that plays home to about a gazillion restaurants, hotels, gas stations and Concord Mills, all of which draw big-time revenue during race weeks, in honor of Smith.

I’ve watched all of this madness playing out, and I’ve held my tongue long enough.

Concord, just stop it before you look even more idiotic. All this brown-nosing is making me sick. You’ve apologized and backpedaled enough. You’ve acted like some lovesick teenager trying to do everything he can to woo the girl of his dreams so she’ll go to the high school sock-hop with him. What’s next? Flowers and a candygram? A diamond pendant? Offering up first-born sons?

Just stop. You’ve said you’re sorry. Enough is enough.

Oct. 18, 2007 - If Women Were In Charge...

Pouring through the countless photographs that National Speed Sport News has amassed since 1934, I’ve come across many victory lane shots featuring an array of trophy girls and speedway beauties dressed in anything from poofy evening wear to slimming fire suits to string bikinis.

I don’t consider myself a feminist by any means, but given the strides that women have made in the last couple of decades in the workplace and in society, I’d think that the ritual of having scantily-clad trophy girls in victory lane has run its course. However, just this week I received a typical winner’s circle shot of Donny Schatz surrounded by four skinny blondes with exposed midriffs posing for cameras in victory lane.

Complaining about such images – and rituals – is futile, especially when aired to my male coworkers; after all, men will be, well, men. But after I came across what had to be the 500th such victory lane shot, I asked myself if trophy girls would still be a part of post-race activities if women ran racing. That, of course, made me ponder an even more intriguing concept: What if motorsports was a woman’s sport?

Like a child daydreaming that the game “Candy Land” is a reality, the possibilities of a female world of motorsports is endless. Forget the concept of trophy girls; they could either be replaced by athletic hunks of manliness or completely eliminated from victory lane. Consider potential sponsors: Victoria’s Secret, Cover Girl, Mary Kay, Bath and Body Works, and any number of women-specific clothing and jewelry lines.

Yes, that would also leave room for other products as sponsors, which would fit nicely into an old Larry the Cable Guy joke. But if Mark Martin could hold his head up high while wearing a Viagra fire suit, there’s no reason some young woman couldn’t proudly drive a Kotex Chevrolet in the Maybelline 300 at New Hampshire Int’l Speedway.

Having a women-dominated motorsports world would also inspire young girls to get involved in the sport. Hopefully young women would hang around the garage and pit areas trying to catch the eye of perspective car owners instead of hunting autographs or trying to woo single bachelors as pit lizards, which may be the only ways some women see themselves getting close to the racing they love.

And if women could successfully compete on track, perhaps the old myth that women are bad drivers could be dispelled and finally laid to rest.

At least it would put an end to an inbox full of half-dressed women after a race weekend.

Oct. 11, 2007 - For Race Fans, Race Week Is A Holiday

The hustle and bustle has returned to the Concord, N.C., area this week, meaning one thing: It’s race week again.

For those who have never witnessed the magic that is race week, it’s an interesting spectacle to behold. Day after day for at least a week before fans and campers roll into the area, speedway crews begin making preparations for what might best be called an invasion. Those of us who pass Lowe’s several times a day or during the week will notice the subtle changes: tents going up around the outside of the track, port-a-johns strategically placed for visitors, signs advertising parking, etc.

Souvenir haulers soon appear, covertly tucked far away from the highway until a later date. Parking lots are prepared for tailgaters, and extra lights are placed at intersections to aid in pedestrian traffic. Restaurants, gas stations and businesses hang signs welcoming race fans, who dump countless dollars into the area’s economy with every visit.

Campers and race fans arrive days in advance for the main event. In May during Charlotte speed weeks, some set up home in area fields for the entire two weeks that boast the All-Star Challenge and the Coca-Cola 600. Flags fly high, letting everyone know just who are the greatest drivers and the fan favorites.

And then suddenly a few days before racing gets under way at Lowe’s, the circus begins. Fans swamp the area, trailing back and forth from the rows and rows of souvenir trailers to the speedway. The hustle and bustle surrounding the speedway gives the area a different feel that can be likened to a holiday atmosphere. Perhaps race week is a holiday for race fans and those of us who are lucky enough to be involved in motorsports.

Race weeks happen only a few times a year, and they are cherished. Luckily, with the addition of a drag strip next season, fans will have an extra holiday weekend when the National Hot Rod Ass’n rolls into town.

I can’t wait.

Oct. 4, 2007 - Franchitti Can Do Wonders For NASCAR, IndyCar

Listening to Dario Franchitti talk about his racing experience during Wednesday’s press conference, I wondered just how many of the media in the room knew about the touring car series he competed in during his early career and if they knew the difference between the Grand Am Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series.

That started me thinking: How many typical NASCAR fans know anything about series that involve cars without fenders?

For all those naysayers who think the recent moves by Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya and other open-wheel talents to NASCAR is detrimental to the series, think again.

NASCAR fans should be proud competitors from other disciplines are climbing into stock cars for a new challenge. That says that driving a stock car isn’t a walk in the park for just anyone. In other words, the NASCAR faithful can claim bragging rights that their series is the premier form of racing if non-stock-car competitors from outside the U.S. are seeking NASCAR rides rather than driving opportunities in other series.

Having these individuals from the IndyCar, Formula One and Champ Car series also has the potential to create wider exposure for those series and NASCAR. When I began following NASCAR and Tony Stewart in 1999, I quickly learned that Stewart is a former IRL and USAC champion. I had never heard of either sanctioning body, but I quickly learned and even tuned into a few IndyCar Series races to see just where my favorite driver cut his teeth. When Stewart hopped into a sports car in the 24 Hours of Daytona, I became acquainted with the Grand Am Series. I’m sure I’m not the only NASCAR fan whose interest in motorsports has grown because of a driver’s involvement in another type of racing.

It’s a win-win for all parties. Franchitti’s followers will track his career in NASCAR and may become NASCAR fans themselves. The supporters he gains in NASCAR may, in turn, take an interest in the IRL. The same can be said for Sam Hornish, Jr. and even Helio Castroneves, who may charm viewers of “Dancing With the Stars” into becoming IndyCar spectators.

True motorsports fans should also be excited, or at least taking an active interest in Franchitti, Hornish, Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve. Not only will their transitions into stock cars be interesting to watch, but spectators can see just how talented these drivers are as they transfer their open-wheel skills into driving a new animal. Just think of how hyped Montoya’s dirt debut was leading into Stewart’s “Prelude to the Dream” at Eldora in June. This is comparable, minus the clay.

Personally, I’m excited that some oval-loving NASCAR fans may actually broaden their horizons by taking an interest in other types of racing. Well-educated race fans know the difference between IndyCar and Champ Car, Grand Am and ALMS, etc., and can contribute to racing-related conversations that don’t involve how Jeff and Dale, Jr. did Sunday afternoon.

Yes, Franchitti’s entrance into NASCAR could create more educated race fans. We can only hope.