Bruton Smith strongly considering moving fall Charlotte race

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...to Las Vegas.

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -​
NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith says there is a strong possibility that he will move the Bank of America 500 out of Charlotte.
The Bank of America 500 is one of two annual races held at Smith's Charlotte Motor Speedway, along with May's Coca-Cola 600. The BoA 500 is held in October.
"I know you're not gonna cut this one out, but I've been having some strong conversations about one of these events being moved," Smith told WBTV's Paul Cameron in an exclusive interview. "And Las Vegas is a great place - it's the entertainment capital of the world - and they want another event."
In addition to owning the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the North Carolina native owns eight NASCAR tracks, including the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which host eleven NASCAR Sprint Cup events.
The only Sprint Cup race that is currently held on the LVMS is the Kobalt Tools 400, which is held in early March.
Smith says he's flown out to Vegas several times to talk about moving a Sprint Cup race to his track there.
"They've made me offers to move one," Smith said.
"But you can't just move the race though, doesn't NASCAR have to move it?" Cameron asked.
"I know they would approve this," Smith responded. "And say the October race... Las Vegas. You're gonna get a lot of phone calls about this - I'm gonna predict that."

Read the rest here: http://www.wbtv.com/story/22301261/bruton-smith-charlotte-bank-of-america-500-move-race-vegas
 
What's he want now? There's always something behind his moves. Maybe he wants another street named after him or tax exempt status somewhere? This seems like kind of a lateral move. One 1.5er to another. Yawn. If he's that disenchanted with Charlotte's fall race, tear it down and build a short track. Give the fans something that they want.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
What's he want now? There's always something behind his moves. Maybe he wants another street named after him or tax exempt status somewhere? This seems like kind of a lateral move. One 1.5er to another. Yawn. If he's that disenchanted with Charlotte's fall race, tear it down and build a short track. Give the fans something that they want.
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More money, of course.

When asked if he thought he could make more money at a race in Las Vegas versus having a race in Charlotte, Smith's answer was simple.
"Yes, yes, yes. Oh yes," he said. "Plus, we're discussing a ten-year contract for a lot of money every year."
According to Smith, money plays a huge factor in his possible move. He says a lot of the hotel/casinos in Vegas would love to have the race there, because race fans would fill up the hotels.
"You've got 150,000 rooms out there, more than any city in the world," he said. "And they want to fill up those hotels, and we do fill'em up. That's good."

 
I think Las Vegas deserves a second date, but I'm not sure Charlotte would be where I would take it from.
 
FLRacingFan said:
...to Las Vegas.

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -​
NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith says there is a strong possibility that he will move the Bank of America 500 out of Charlotte.
The Bank of America 500 is one of two annual races held at Smith's Charlotte Motor Speedway, along with May's Coca-Cola 600. The BoA 500 is held in October.
"I know you're not gonna cut this one out, but I've been having some strong conversations about one of these events being moved," Smith told WBTV's Paul Cameron in an exclusive interview. "And Las Vegas is a great place - it's the entertainment capital of the world - and they want another event."
In addition to owning the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the North Carolina native owns eight NASCAR tracks, including the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which host eleven NASCAR Sprint Cup events.
The only Sprint Cup race that is currently held on the LVMS is the Kobalt Tools 400, which is held in early March.
Smith says he's flown out to Vegas several times to talk about moving a Sprint Cup race to his track there.
"They've made me offers to move one," Smith said.
"But you can't just move the race though, doesn't NASCAR have to move it?" Cameron asked.
"I know they would approve this," Smith responded. "And say the October race... Las Vegas. You're gonna get a lot of phone calls about this - I'm gonna predict that."

Read the rest here: http://www.wbtv.com/story/22301261/bruton-smith-charlotte-bank-of-america-500-move-race-vegas
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I hope NASCAR moves the fall Charlotte race to Iowa.
 
mike honcho said:
Charlotte ticket sales must have tanked?
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Seems like everywhere NASCAR goes twice a year, one (or both) of the dates is tailing off in attendance. Sign of the economy, I guess. Folks that used to go to both races now go to the spring rather than the fall or vice versa, I gander.
 
sounds like a threat ta concord/cabarrus county. $$ dispute. ??
 
hawg dawg said:
sounds like a threat ta concord/cabarrus county. $$ dispute. ??
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That could be, like NASCAR moving the banquet from NYC to LV. Whatever it is move or not, it works for me. LV is designed better for fans, but a race could break out at either track.:idunno:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
What's he want now? There's always something behind his moves. Maybe he wants another street named after him or tax exempt status somewhere? This seems like kind of a lateral move. One 1.5er to another. Yawn. If he's that disenchanted with Charlotte's fall race, tear it down and build a short track. Give the fans something that they want.
Click to expand...

He had a good case last time because the land where he wanted to build the dragstrip was owned by the speedway and already zoned for motorsports but they still tried to prevent him from building it. The opposition came mainly from a new subdivision close to the speedway. Then Concord jumped when he threatened to build a new track elsewhere in the Charlotte area.

I don't know that he's angling for anything this time. I'm sure many of those big hotels/casinos are offering him a nice perk to add another race date. Isn't Vegas drawing almost a capacity crowd for the spring race? Meanwhile attendance at Charlotte continues to drop. A few years ago they took out all the seats between turns 1 and 2 and now they put a tarp over half the seats in the diamond tower on the backstretch.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
What's he want now? There's always something behind his moves. Maybe he wants another street named after him or tax exempt status somewhere? This seems like kind of a lateral move. One 1.5er to another. Yawn. If he's that disenchanted with Charlotte's fall race, tear it down and build a short track. Give the fans something that they want.
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Geez, dpk, you're starting to sound like me. :D
 
carolinabuff said:
He had a good case last time because the land where he wanted to build the dragstrip was owned by the speedway and already zoned for motorsports but they still tried to prevent him from building it. The opposition came mainly from a new subdivision close to the speedway. Then Concord jumped when he threatened to build a new track elsewhere in the Charlotte area.

I don't know that he's angling for anything this time. I'm sure many of those big hotels/casinos are offering him a nice perk to add another race date. Isn't Vegas drawing almost a capacity crowd for the spring race? Meanwhile attendance at Charlotte continues to drop. A few years ago they took out all the seats between turns 1 and 2 and now they put a tarp over half the seats in the diamond tower on the backstretch.
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Good post Carolinabuff , lots of info , welcome to the forum .
 
I would of thought it would have been the spring Bristol race getting the can instead of the fall Charlotte race.....this years spring Bristol race had a ton of empty seats(last years had a lot to) and Bruton Smith does own Bristol as well.
 
This could really work for me as long as they keep it on the same weekend that they have it on now. I always arrive in Vegas about 2 weeks before Halloween to get ready for a drag race anyway, and since it is an off weekend for us I could just come in 1 week earlier and do the Nascar race too. Nothing wrong with mixing business with pleasure.:cool:
 
carolinabuff said:
He had a good case last time because the land where he wanted to build the dragstrip was owned by the speedway and already zoned for motorsports but they still tried to prevent him from building it. The opposition came mainly from a new subdivision close to the speedway. Then Concord jumped when he threatened to build a new track elsewhere in the Charlotte area.

I don't know that he's angling for anything this time. I'm sure many of those big hotels/casinos are offering him a nice perk to add another race date. Isn't Vegas drawing almost a capacity crowd for the spring race? Meanwhile attendance at Charlotte continues to drop. A few years ago they took out all the seats between turns 1 and 2 and now they put a tarp over half the seats in the diamond tower on the backstretch.
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yeah...good stuff carolina !

don't ya live in concord....or near there ?
 
Nitro Dude said:
This could really work for me as long as they keep it on the same weekend that they have it on now. I always arrive in Vegas about 2 weeks before Halloween to get ready for a drag race anyway, and since it is an off weekend for us I could just come in 1 week earlier and do the Nascar race too. Nothing wrong with mixing business with pleasure.:cool:
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Isn't that Cacklefest week?
 
It wouldn't be a bad move. Vegas would already have two dates, including the finale, if it was an ISC track. Charlotte's a boring race and they don't get a lot of fans there. From my understanding, there's an entire section of grandstands that have never been used.
 
why do they want to run the all star race and the coke 600 back to back weekends?? why not move a race to vegas then move the all star to october?? charlotte keeps 2 races and vegas gets 2.
 
slash14 said:
I would of thought it would have been the spring Bristol race getting the can instead of the fall Charlotte race.....this years spring Bristol race had a ton of empty seats(last years had a lot to) and Bruton Smith does own Bristol as well.
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Fans would go homicidal if he dumped a Bristol weekend.
 
KevinWI said:
Seems like everywhere NASCAR goes twice a year, one (or both) of the dates is tailing off in attendance. Sign of the economy, I guess. Folks that used to go to both races now go to the spring rather than the fall or vice versa, I gander.
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Must be even tougher for Charlotte, having three dates a year including the ASR.
 
mike honcho said:
Isn't that Cacklefest week?
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Mike, the Cacklefest is Oct 18th through the 20th which is the week between the Nascar race and the Nhra National event in Vegas. That is if they kept the Nascar race on the same weekend that they do now. Which would work perfect for me because I would just fly to Chicago and pick up Bodes hauler a week earlier and then drive it to Vegas and watch the Nascar race and then park the hauler there at the track after the race is over and rent a car to drive to Bakersfield for the Cacklefest and then drive back to Vegas for the National event on Mon. Nhra doesn't mark the pro pits until Tues and we can't pull into our pit until they mark them out for us so we usually don't set up until Wed morning anyway. Hey, it's a good plan if it works.;)
 
Smoke14 said:
I hope NASCAR moves the fall Charlotte race to Iowa.
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This would solve it.

But as I have always said. Wish in one hand, crap in the other. See which one fills up first.

My IOWA hand is so full I can't see my hand anymore. o_O
 
hidesert cowboy said:
why do they want to run the all star race and the coke 600 back to back weekends?? why not move a race to vegas then move the all star to october?? charlotte keeps 2 races and vegas gets 2.
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or tha all star race ta vegas ? think they could glitz up tha race ....w/ all tha headline stars there? concert too ?
plus.....lotsa folks that attend charlotte all star race are local family/friends a' teams....ie --gratis.
bruton would pack vegas all star....not just drivers.... race...... w/ payin fans .

gotta get his demands from concord folks 1st. they dang sure don't wanna lose 600 or 500 !
 
If it happens, I'll be at LVMS twice a year. Great race, great fans, great time. Bruton's been hinting about it for years.
 
BobbyFord said:
If it happens, I'll be at LVMS twice a year. Great race, great fans, great time. Bruton's been hinting about it for years.
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If it works out that I can attend the Oct race I will buy you a cold one, Bobby.
 
MOEJOE said:
This would solve it.

But as I have always said. Wish in one hand, crap in the other. See which one fills up first.

My IOWA hand is so full I can't see my hand anymore. o_O
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On the surface I like the idea, but I think one of the CMS October problems is college football.
Some of the fans would be attending games in THE (as is in the SEC) conference, even the divsion 2c, ACC* attracts fans.

I dont think Vegas has that problem.
The 500 has never had the prestige of the 600.
When I think of a fall classic, Martinsville is the word.
 
BobbyFord said:
For sure. I have family in Vegas. You're welcome to tailgate with us for 4 days. :)
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Sounds like fun. I have never been there when the Nascar race was going on...do they park you in the parking lot between the drag strip all the way to the Petro travel plaza? During the race I can park the hauler at a race shop there in that motorsports business park across the street behind Richard Pettys garage.
 
Eh, like people have said, its one 1.5 miler to another, aint that significant really..l
 
FLRacingFan said:
Fans would go homicidal if he dumped a Bristol weekend.
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I'd dump the spring Bristol race and try to make the night Bristol race a something special. Add driver introductions like the All-Star Race, make it 600 laps, move it even closer to the Chase so you had added short track desperation.
 
hawg dawg said:
or tha all star race ta vegas ? think they could glitz up tha race ....w/ all tha headline stars there? concert too ?
plus.....lotsa folks that attend charlotte all star race are local family/friends a' teams....ie --gratis.
bruton would pack vegas all star....not just drivers.... race...... w/ payin fans .

gotta get his demands from concord folks 1st. they dang sure don't wanna lose 600 or 500 !
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Maybe Wayne Newton would win the fan vote instead of that uppity Danica.:D
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
It wouldn't be a bad move. Vegas would already have two dates, including the finale, if it was an ISC track. Charlotte's a boring race and they don't get a lot of fans there. From my understanding, there's an entire section of grandstands that have never been used.
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Clearly that's Brutons ultimate goal. Maybe he's resigned to the fact it isn't going to happen so he may as well get it 2 dates and a rich race sponsor now.

It's amazing that nascar struggles with the racing on 1.5's, but still hasn't figured out the problem is 1.5's. It's the same formula everywhere they go. Get the car working perfect in all 4 simular corners, then get clean air and ride away because nobody can pass the guy with clean air.
 
Maybe working toward Vegas last so theyre there for champions week?
FenderBumper said:
It's amazing that nascar struggles with the racing on 1.5's, but still hasn't figured out the problem is 1.5's. It's the same formula everywhere they go. Get the car working perfect in all 4 simular corners, then get clean air and ride away because nobody can pass the guy with clean air.
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I agree, it's pretty much impossible to avoid. At those speeds aero is going to have a lot to do with nit no matter what you change on the car. The only way would be to put restrictor plates in the cars at every track longer than 1 mile lol.
 
Nitro Dude said:
Sounds like fun. I have never been there when the Nascar race was going on...do they park you in the parking lot between the drag strip all the way to the Petro travel plaza? During the race I can park the hauler at a race shop there in that motorsports business park across the street behind Richard Pettys garage.
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We park right behind the drags trip grandstands. My cousin has a handicapped placard.
 
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