Iowa Speedway Sold

If Bruton bought it, we may see Iowa on the Sprint Cup schedule sometime soon. It'll probably be complete with a pre-race three-ring circus and $150 tickets, but it'll probably be there nonetheless.
 
I highly doubt it.

The Iowa Speedway in Newton will soon have new owners.

US Motorsport Corporation will sell the track and its properties to an undisclosed buyer. The new company is identified in documents provided to city council members only as Iowa Speedway L.L.C.

Racing legend Rusty Wallace designed the state-of-the-art track and also became part-owner. Wallace hasn’t responded to a request to find out whether he will have any role in the new company.

The Newton City Council will vote to approve terms of the change at a special meeting Tuesday at noon. The Speedway has struggled financially at times to pay vendors and secure financing for expansion. It has also had ownership and key leadership changes since it opened in 2006. The Speedway also announced it would reduce its racing weekends from 5 to 3 next season.

The new owners are not expected to be present at Tuesday’s council meeting. Channel 13 has confirmed a news conference scheduled for 1p.m. at the Iowa Statehouse rotunda on December 12th. The new owners are expected to be represented there and release details of some future plans for the Speedway.

http://whotv.com/2013/11/25/speedway-sold-newtons-nascar-gets-cash-infusion/
 
I'd probably go too if it got Cup date. My crew and I used to go to Chicagoland, haven't recently because a lot of my friends are out of work, but going to a short track is more appealing. I want to go to the IndyCar date at Iowa but it's a week after Milwaukee so kind of defeats the purpose.
 
ToyYoda said:
If Bruton bought it, we may see Iowa on the Sprint Cup schedule sometime soon. It'll probably be complete with a pre-race three-ring circus and $150 tickets, but it'll probably be there nonetheless.
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If Bruton bought it, it's most likely we'd end up with another closed track and more Nationwide/Truck dates at Vegas, Kentucky and Atlanta. I don't get why everyone thinks Bruton Smith is a good guy who's going to give us more short tracks. The man is the reason North Wilkesboro and Rockingham are closed.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
If Bruton bought it, it's most likely we'd end up with another closed track and more Nationwide/Truck dates at Vegas, Kentucky and Atlanta. I don't get why everyone thinks Bruton Smith is a good guy who's going to give us more short tracks. The man is the reason North Wilkesboro and Rockingham are closed.
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I've never accused Bruton of being a good guy:D I couldn't agree more, if he did expect a 1.5 in a bigger market to replace it.
 
Thegroundpounder99 said:
I've never accused Bruton of being a good guy:D I couldn't agree more, if he did expect a 1.5 in a bigger market to replace it.
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Yep. I'm so sick of hearing what a good guy Bruton Smith is. He's a smart businessman who, like many successful businessmen, succeeded because of the work of others (in Bruton's case, Humpy Wheeler). The only good SMI track is Bristol and the only reason he hasn't torn that down and replaced it with a 1.5 mile track is because he knows it'd be the stupidest thing he could ever do.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
The only good SMI track is Bristol and the only reason he hasn't torn that down and replaced it with a 1.5 mile track is because he knows it'd be the stupidest thing he could ever do.
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SMI's tracks are the cream of the crop among racing facilities. I've been to a bunch of them and Bruton's team do a great job with those SMI venues. You may not like him but they do things right.

I think it'd be great to see ISC or SMI purchase that Iowa facility. While you may not agree, NASCAR listens. They've heard the cry for a Cup race to be run there. It'll happen but it will happen at the expense of another facility. The season isn't expanding so something's gotta give.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
SMI's tracks are the cream of the crop among racing facilities. I've been to a bunch of them and Bruton's team do a great job with those SMI venues. You may not like him but they do things right.

I think it'd be great to see ISC or SMI purchase that Iowa facility. While you may not agree, NASCAR listens. They've heard the cry for a Cup race to be run there. It'll happen but it will happen at the expense of another facility. The season isn't expanding so something's gotta give.
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I don't care about facilities, I care about the racing product. And since NASCAR and the tracks make their money off TV not attendance, it's all that matters. Bruton Smith 1.5 tracks aren't good for NASCAR. And you assume he'd keep Iowa open if he bought it. I'd say it's more likely he'd close the track so he has Nationwide and Truck dates to move to Las Vegas, Texas, Atlanta, Kentucky and New Hampshire if he gets his lights there.
 
As for a Cup race at Iowa, even if it were to happen, it'd be no different than Dover (see: not very good). The track is just shy of a mile in length and is progressively banked. 250-lap standalone Nationwide races are great. 400-lap Cup races where primadonas who are content with finishing 13th ride around all day wouldn't be.
 
Whatever happens with the track, I hope the new owners treat the fans better.
1 Sealed bottle of water and no food. Awesome rule. Love the track food nazis.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I don't get why everyone thinks Bruton Smith is a good guy who's going to give us more short tracks. The man is the reason North Wilkesboro and Rockingham are closed.
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To be fair, nascar had a hand in that along with Bruton.

nascar approves or disapproves any addition or subtraction to/from the Cup series schedule by a track owner. Bruton couldn't take a race from the Rock or N.Wilks and give it to one of his other tracks without nascar's approval.
 
gordonite said:
To be fair, nascar had a hand in that along with Bruton.

nascar approves or disapproves any addition or subtraction to/from the Cup series schedule by a track owner. Bruton couldn't take a race from the Rock or N.Wilks and give it to one of his other tracks without nascar's approval.
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Sure he can. If Bruton closes down a track entirely and refuses to sell it, NASCAR has no choice. That's exactly what Bruton and his partner con-man Bahre did to North Wilkesboro.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Sure he can. If Bruton closes down a track entirely and refuses to sell it, NASCAR has no choice. That's exactly what Bruton and his partner con-man Bahre did to North Wilkesboro.
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They closed N.Wilks after they switch its dates to Louden and Texas... with the approval of nascar.

How do you see that nascar didn't have a choice in the matter?
 
in other developments lets boot the cup guys out of the nationwide series so that the races that are there have no cup guys in them.

seriously this doesn't sound like a good thing. The track is struggling as most race tracks are. why would SMI or ISC buy the track when its struggling already??
 
gordonite said:
They closed N.Wilks after they switch its dates to Louden and Texas... with the approval of nascar.

How do you see that nascar didn't have a choice in the matter?
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If they hadn't gotten approval from NASCAR, they still would've closed it. If they wanted it open, it'd be open. If Bruton wanted to sell it, he'd sell it. Instead, he's sitting there and letting the place rot with a $16 million price tag or something like that solely so it's too expensive to reopen. The place is two hours from me. Lots of people have wanted to reopen the place.

Bruton Smith is the reason the place is closed. Not NASCAR. Not the fans. He's the one and only reason the track will never reopen again.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
If they hadn't gotten approval from NASCAR, they still would've closed it. If they wanted it open, it'd be open. If Bruton wanted to sell it, he'd sell it. Instead, he's sitting there and letting the place rot with a $16 million price tag or something like that solely so it's too expensive to reopen. The place is two hours from me. Lots of people have wanted to reopen the place.

Bruton Smith is the reason the place is closed. Not NASCAR. Not the fans. He's the one and only reason the track will never reopen again.
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I'm not convinced Bruton and Bahre would have closed it without a guarantee from nascar that they would be allowed to move those races to other tracks. More likely Bruton already had the go ahead from nascar before he even bought into the track.

To say nascar had no choice and had nothing to do with it is ridiculous.
 
gordonite said:
I'm not convinced Bruton and Bahre would have closed it without a guarantee from nascar that they would be allowed to move those races to other tracks. More likely Bruton already had the go ahead from nascar before he even bought into the track.

To say nascar had no choice and had nothing to do with it is ridiculous.
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Bullspit. The sole reason Bruton and Bahre bought the place was so Bruton could get a date for Texas and Bahre could get a date for New Hampshire. If NASCAR wouldn't comply, they would've closed it anyways.
 
toledo47 said:
Whatever happens with the track, I hope the new owners treat the fans better.
1 Sealed bottle of water and no food. Awesome rule. Love the track food nazis.
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If it's anything like Motor Mile Speedway, it's probably nice and expensive for a bottle of water also.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Bullspit. The sole reason Bruton and Bahre bought the place was so Bruton could get a date for Texas and Bahre could get a date for New Hampshire. If NASCAR wouldn't comply, they would've closed it anyways.
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Do you really believe Bruton would have bought into N.Wilkes with the intention of moving one of it's races to Texas, without knowing whether or not nascar would even allow moving a race to Texas? lol

Think about it.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
If it's anything like Motor Mile Speedway, it's probably nice and expensive for a bottle of water also.
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Standard Cup track pricing. I think $4? I think all of the drinks are the same, water, coke, smallish bottle of gatorade. $4 . If they want to charge that, then whatever, but let me bring in my own food and drink. I always sneak in food and drink at tracks like that. It's more principle than the money. I've bought a few $4 drinks and some food at tracks that let you bring in your own. I'd never buy $4 drinks or food at a place that forbids me from bringing my own food in.
 
gordonite said:
Do you really believe Bruton would have bought into N.Wilkes with the intention of moving one of it's races to Texas, without knowing whether or not nascar would even allow moving a race to Texas? lol

Think about it.
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Now you're being an argumentative dick just for the sake of being one, as usual.

If/could/would -- Bruton DID buy North Wilkesboro with the sole intention of moving it's races to Texas. This is the same man who was about to tear down Charlotte Motor Speedway if the county didn't let him build his drag strip. He ****** sued NASCAR and shut down Rockingham Speedway to get a second date for Texas.

Let's not act like this is a man who cares about racing and only did this because NASCAR allowed it.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Now you're being an argumentative dick just for the sake of being one, as usual.

If/could/would -- Bruton DID buy North Wilkesboro with the sole intention of moving it's races to Texas. This is the same man who was about to tear down Charlotte Motor Speedway if the county didn't let him build his drag strip. He ******* sued NASCAR and shut down Rockingham Speedway to get a second date for Texas.

Let's not act like this is a man who cares about racing and only did this because NASCAR allowed it.
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Yes, anyone that doesn't agree with you and says so is being an argumentative dick just for the sake of being one.

Why would Bruton... anyone spend millions on a track with the intentions of moving one of it races to another track before knowing if he would even be allowed to do that? He wouldn't. No one would.

But sure, nascar didn't have a choice in the matter and had absolutely nothing to do with N.Wilks losing it's races. lol
 
here is the real reason Rockingham is no more. Of course some who live inside the black helocopter will never believe it could possibly be nothing but a conspiracy.

Demise
As part of the acquisition of the Penske Speedways in 1999, the Speedway was sold to International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and in 2004, one of its two Sprint Cup races (the crucial fall race, often the penultimate date on the schedule) was transferred to ISC's California Speedway. The change was made after sagging attendance at Rockingham Speedway. It left the track with only one date, in late February, a highly unpopular date for spectators due to the commonly unpredictable weather. That date was moved up from the traditional early spring date in 1992 when Richmond International Raceway wanted a later date than the traditional post-Daytona date because of two postponements in the late 1980s caused by snow. Rumors persisted that the track's lone remaining date was also in jeopardy, as several new tracks in larger, warm-weather markets coveted the date, which was the first race following the Daytona 500, and in 2002 and 2004, Fox's first race of the season.

Despite wide speculation that the race was in its final year, it failed to sell out, falling nearly 10,000 short of the 60,000 capacity. The track indeed hosted its final race on February 22, 2004. In that last race, Matt Kenseth held off then rookie Kasey Kahne on the last lap to win by only 0.010 seconds. This finish was one of the closest in NASCAR history, and viewed by many fans as one of the best finishes that season. It is also known for a wild crash early in the race in which Carl Long flipped wildly down the backstretch.

In the wake of the Ferko lawsuit (in which a shareholder sued NASCAR, alleging a failed promise to schedule a race to a competing track), and the sagging attendance, the track's state of affairs was sharply altered. In the settlement, ISC sold Rockingham Speedway to Speedway Motorsports (SMI), and the track's lone remaining race was "transferred" to Texas Motor Speedway. Some NASCAR fans saw things differently, however, because it was Darlington Raceway's prestigious Southern 500 removed from the schedule for the second race in Texas, and the date for The Rock was sent to Phoenix International Raceway. SMI agreed to host no NASCAR events at the track while it was under their ownership. Upon its exit from the NASCAR circuit, The Rock joined such facilities as Ontario Motor Speedway, Riverside International Raceway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Texas World Speedway, and Music City Motorplex as tracks removed from the circuit.

Some suggest that the lack of any other tourist attractions in the area (the nearest major attraction is the legendary golf venue Pinehurst Resort, where a NASCAR on Fox promotion had a sweepstakes winner winning a trip there as part of race tickets), and the relatively small size of the city hurt ticket sales. In addition, other tracks nearby such as Charlotte Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway (in the Florence-Myrtle Beach region) had a tendency to lure away fans looking to catch a race.

The Rockingham track was often praised for good racing (though it never reached 40 official lead changes in a race; it saw 37 official lead changes in one race in 1981) and for having great sightlines for spectators. However, it must also be mentioned that the facility made limited infrastructure reinvestments over the years while being owned by the DeWitt family, and seemed to lag behind other facilities which continually modernized and updated their business plans, especially after it was sold to pay off estate taxes owed by the DeWitt and Wilson families which had owned the track.




Here is the story on North Wilkesboro..as you can see Bob Bahre AND Bruton Smith Bought the track, and one date was given to Smith in Texas and one to Bahre at New Hampshire.

Citing North Wilkesboro Speedway's age and lack of modern amenities, former New Hampshire Motor Speedway owner Bob Bahre and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. CEO Bruton Smith, who already owned several NASCAR circuits, purchased the track in 1996. North Wilkesboro's spring date was given to Smith's new Texas Motor Speedway, while the fall date was taken over by Bahre's New Hampshire track and moved to early September as part of a schedule realignment.
 
gordonite said:
Yes, anyone that doesn't agree with you and says so is being an argumentative dick just for the sake of being one.

Why would Bruton... anyone spend millions on a track with the intentions of moving one of it races to another track before knowing if he would even be allowed to do that? He wouldn't. No one would.

But sure, nascar didn't have a choice in the matter and had absolutely nothing to do with N.Wilks losing it's races. lol
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I said Bruton Smith is the reason the track is closed, and he is. You can try to blame it on NASCAR all you want which is fine. If North Wilkesboro had remained open the entire time with the standard basic maintenance, they'd have, at the least, a Truck Series and K&N Pro Series date. North Wilkesboro = closed with a price tag that's far far far above market value. Solely because Bruton wants it to remain closed. Because he knows one of his tracks could easily lose a Truck date if the place was reopened and repaired.
 
StandOnIt said:
Here is the story on North Wilkesboro..as you can see Bob Bahre AND Bruton Smith Bought the track, and one date was given to Smith in Texas and one to Bahre at New Hampshire.
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Pretty sure I mentioned Bob Bahre's name - multiple times.

Fact: Bruton is sole owner of NWS.

He's allowed the place to be reopened once at a price tag that was so unaffordable that the tenants were forced to end their lease prematurely.
 
Fact: Bruton is sole owner of NWS.

Fiction. Bruton and Bahre own the track.

Speedway for public sale
In January 2007 during the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Media Tour, Bruton Smith announced that he and co-owner Bob Bahre had agreed to let a real estate company attempt to sell the track for the asking price of $12 million.[7] On September 28, 2007 Worth Mitchell, a land developer, announced plans to purchase the speedway.[8] However Worth Mitchell estimates his odds are 50–50 of pulling off the deal and since that time there has been no further information. Speedway Motorsports officials had no comment on the negotiations.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Wilkesboro_Speedway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Wilkesboro_Speedway#cite_note-jayski.com-7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Wilkesboro_Speedway#cite_note-jayski.com-7
 
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