No Mas Humpy

BobbyFord

BobbyFord

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Humpy Wheeler, the "P.T. Barnum" of NASCAR promotions, will retire and step down as president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway, The Associated Press has learned. This weekend's Coca-Cola 600 will be Wheeler's last race for Lowe's Motor Speedway, two people familiar with the decision told the AP. They requested anonymity because an official announcement, which could come as early as Wednesday, has not yet been made. It was not immediately clear who will succeed Wheeler, who has managed the track for the past 33 years and was named president in 1980. Candidates include track owner Bruton Smith's son, Marcus, the executive vice president of sales and marketing for Speedway Motorsports Inc., and Lauri Wilks, executive vice president of management and administration for LMS. Nicknamed "Humpy" because of the camel's hump on a pack of Camel cigarettes his father was caught smoking, Wheeler was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006.(Associated Press/Jenna Fryer/ESPN.com)(5-21-2008)
 
BobbyFord said:
Humpy Wheeler, the "P.T. Barnum" of NASCAR promotions, will retire and step down as president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway, The Associated Press has learned. This weekend's Coca-Cola 600 will be Wheeler's last race for Lowe's Motor Speedway, two people familiar with the decision told the AP. They requested anonymity because an official announcement, which could come as early as Wednesday, has not yet been made. It was not immediately clear who will succeed Wheeler, who has managed the track for the past 33 years and was named president in 1980. Candidates include track owner Bruton Smith's son, Marcus, the executive vice president of sales and marketing for Speedway Motorsports Inc., and Lauri Wilks, executive vice president of management and administration for LMS. Nicknamed "Humpy" because of the camel's hump on a pack of Camel cigarettes his father was caught smoking, Wheeler was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006.(Associated Press/Jenna Fryer/ESPN.com)(5-21-2008)
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Well now that is bad........ Him and Lowes motor speedway go hand and hand
 
He'll still be like the king of england and stick around as a figurehead i'm sure, but with somebody new in actual power.


Now, about bruton........
 
Prez says retirement wasn't completely on his terms

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/05/21/wheeler.retirement/index.html

CONCORD, N.C. -- As of next week, H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, Charlotte's maestro of motorsports, will have no role in the management of Lowe's Motor Speedway or Speedway Motorsports Inc.

At a news conference Wednesday in the speedway's media center, Wheeler, 69, announced what already had been reported, namely that he is retiring as president and general manager of LMS and as chief operating officer and director of SMI, the publicly traded corporation that owns and manages seven tracks, including Lowe's, that host Sprint Cup dates.


Wheeler held the first night race at a superspeedway in 1992, after the installation of a $1.7 million lighting system at LMS.Absent from Wheeler's announcement was SMI chairman Bruton Smith, but the likely successor to Wheeler, Smith's son Marcus G. Smith, represented the family as Wheeler, the consummate raconteur, recalled some of the highs and lows of his 28-year tenure as track president.

Smith, 34, explained that his father was slightly under the weather and didn't want to distract from Wheeler's limelight at the retirement announcement.

Wheeler, who enjoys a long-standing reputation as one of the legendary promoters in racing, said all the right things -- that he was looking forward to some time off, that his wife, Pat, was happy with the move -- but the abruptness of the announcement and Wheeler's own admission that the retirement wasn't entirely on his own terms left lingering questions unanswered.

"Some of it's on our own terms -- I won't say it all is," Wheeler said. "Some of it is ... and I'll let it rest at that."

Marcus Smith confirmed that Wheeler's retirement had been discussed off and on for the past two years but did not indicate he would succeed Wheeler as track president.

"There's probably no easy time to take a step out of your role," Smith said. "I think in three to six months, he'll have a new direction, and we'll be running hard to make the speedway the best it can be. We're excited about what's ahead. We've been working on plans for the next generation of Lowe's Motor Speedway for some time now, and that's sure going to make a big impact on how we go forward."

Wheeler plans to write a book on his experiences in racing and will continue to tape episodes of "The Humpy Show" for Speed TV. Wheeler also said he had been on the phone with NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France and president Mike Helton earlier Wednesday morning. That leaves open the possibility that Wheeler will work with NASCAR in some sort of consulting capacity.
 
I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Humpy is/was COO and President of Bruton's SMI. I wonder if they disagreed over the purchase of Kentucky --- which might forbode a moving of a race date from either Loudon, or Charlotte --- especially since Charlotte is nowhere near selling out in the fall.

And rumor has it, that Bruton's son Marcus is first in line for the job.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Humpy is/was COO and President of Bruton's SMI. I wonder if they disagreed over the purchase of Kentucky --- which might forbode a moving of a race date from either Loudon, or Charlotte --- especially since Charlotte is nowhere near selling out in the fall.

And rumor has it, that Bruton's son Marcus is first in line for the job.
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Rumor has it Bruton wants Pocono now - which sells out every single race.

Prediction - Kentucky takes Pocono's date next fall.
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
Rumor has it Bruton wants Pocono now - which sells out every single race.

Prediction - Kentucky takes Pocono's date next fall.
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good. Pocono can add seating to the 1 mile frontstraight, and kentucky will give that fall date some more excitement. Anything's better than pocono.

also, humpy was very against the lowes dragway, it turns out. So bruton may have given him the boot..and with brutn's son in line for replacement, that falls in place perfectly.
 
Pocono is a good track. It is demanding of drivers and especially, setup.

There is always something going on in the pack and with the COT should be more interesting. Short track, road courses and Pocono are venues that make a driver earn anything they get.

Can't say the same for Kentucky as it has already shown itself to be another cookie cutter track added to the already too many cookie cutter tracks in the series.

That being said, if Bruton spends the fifty million on changes and upgrades as predicted, they might involve changes to make the racing more exciting.

Damn sport is changing too fast and going in too many different directions.
 
Whizzer said:
Pocono is a good track. It is demanding of drivers and especially, setup.

There is always something going on in the pack and with the COT should be more interesting. Short track, road courses and Pocono are venues that make a driver earn anything they get.

Can't say the same for Kentucky as it has already shown itself to be another cookie cutter track added to the already too many cookie cutter tracks in the series.

That being said, if Bruton spends the fifty million on changes and upgrades as predicted, they might involve changes to make the racing more exciting.

Damn sport is changing too fast and going in too many different directions.
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Kentucky's had some really good races, though. I can't say the same for the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, Texas Motor Speedway and some of these other cookie-cutter tracks.
 
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