Texas wins second date in legal settlement: Martinsville added to list of losers
If it weren't for bad luck, there be no luck at all...
That seems to be the motto for poor old Darlington Raceway
Darlington and North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, both owned by International Speedway Corp., will probably be sold to rival Speedway Motorsports Inc. The deal wiil be part of a settlement in a pending lawsuit between shareholders from Texas Motor Speedway, an SMI track, and NASCAR.
When that happens, two of the three race dates between Darlington and Rockingham will go to,Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. owned, Texas and Las Vegas tracks. That would leave just one date to be shared every other year between Darlington and Rockingham, and the date would include a Nextel Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series race.
Sources also say that Darlington is losing its spring race to Kansas City, Phoenix or Chicago - all ISC tracks which have a larger capacity than NASCAR's oldest superspeedway at Darlington.
When the change occurs, nine of the 36 Cup points races would be held west of the Mississippi River. Ten years ago, the series had two such races. Five years ago, there were five such races.
Smith would not comment Tuesday about the settlement talks other than to say, "That's up to my lawyers to get it resolved."
He reaffirmed his belief that Texas and Las Vegas should have two Cup races each per year.
"The drivers, the car owners and the people that are supporting this sport of ours, they all want to go to Vegas," Smith said of a second race there.
"When you look at Texas, you look at Fort Worth and Dallas, that metroplex is huge. I see some of the figures where they combine it and it becomes the third largest city in the country."
Smith built Texas Motor Speedway to capitalize on a population of more than 2 million people in the county and the nation's seventh-largest TV market.
Smith contends that NASCAR promised him a date for Texas, but he never received it. Texas has a date only because Smith bought half-ownership of North Wilkesboro Speedway and moved one of that track's dates. Bob Bahre bought the other half-ownership of the North Carolina track and moved North Wilkesboro's other date to his track, New Hampshire International Speedway, giving it two Cup races a year.
Francis Ferko, a shareholder in Speedway Motorsports Inc., filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Sherman, Texas, on Feb. 13, 2002, claiming NASCAR and International Speedway Corp., comprise a monopoly. Ferko claimed that by not giving Texas a second date as allegedly promised, his stock is not as valuable. Another shareholder, Russell Vaughn, joined the lawsuit last year. The case is scheduled for a July trial date. That trial now seems unlikely.
Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications said that "there are some things on the table," in regards to a settlement. Six weeks ago, NASCAR Chairman Brian France said he wasn't interested in a settlement.
"My preference is that we go try it in the courtroom," France said at Daytona. "A lot of the facts are in … and when you look at it -- and I've had a chance to look at it -- this whole idea that we're an anti-competitive environment isn't a reality. Speedway Motorsports has benefited immensely with the Nextel Cup series and NASCAR's push in general."
A spokeswoman for International Speedway Corp. did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.
There could be a large financial gain to moving races to the west. More than 180,000 people attend the Texas race -- about three times the size of Darlington's crowd Sunday. Las Vegas had a crowd of about 150,000 for its race this month -- about three times the size of Rockingham's crowd last month.
Those numbers equal big business. Rusty Wallace says he sold more souvenirs in two days at Las Vegas than in two weeks at Daytona this year. Wallace says his No. 1 track for selling souvenirs is Texas. He says those tracks are important for many reasons.
"You've got to listen to what the sponsors need, because these things run off of money," Wallace said of race teams, many of which have annual budgets of about $15 million. "They don't run off of feelings and stuff like that.
"We need to go to the venues that pay a lot of money, and it's really good for the sponsors, because if it's not good for the sponsors, they're not going to sponsor us and Team Penske won't be in business. That's just the way it is."
"I am not going to comment on rumor and speculation," Darlington Raceway President Andrew Gurtis said. "I am still on high after enjoying a banner weekend, and I'm not going to justify a comment."
Gurtis said he met this past weekend with NASCAR officials but nothing was ironed out as far as next year's schedule, which is typically released in the summer. Gurtis said he will meet with NASCAR again in late spring about the 2005 season.
"As far as I am concerned, we got two races for next year," he said. "We've hosted great races for the Cup series three years in a row. We had a sold-out Southern 500 last year and a record crowd for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400."
Cathy Mock, Darlington Raceway's public-relations specialist, handled the issue of a possible sale to Smith curtly: "We don't comment on rumor and speculation, nor do we comment on pending litigation."
Darlington winner Jimmie Johnson addressed the subject on Tuesday morning.
“I definitely understand the history of our sport and the tracks that are behind our sport,” said Johnson. “Darlington’s been there for a long, long time, but with the growth of our sport, we’ve got to do what’s necessary to keep it alive and growing. We have a high saturation of races within the North Carolina area. There are areas within four or five states with only one event each year. We do need to spread the schedule out to help the sport grow.”
But Johnson loves racing at Rockingham and Darlington, and he also understands the fact that quality should count for something.
“Ideally, there should be one event at every track, and we should have 36 different tracks in 36 different states,” he said.
Rumors of the track losing one of its dates have been swirling for several years and have picked up steam because of the lawsuit, which was filed two years ago by Texas Speedway shareholders Francis Ferko and Rusty Vaughn.
The suit alleges possible antitrust violations in NASCAR's relationship with ISC. NASCAR officials deny that a promise for a second Cup date at Texas was made.
The case is supposed to go to trial in July, but reports indicate an out-of-court settlement is close to being reached.
When Rockingham's race in February didn't sell out, despite fine weather and good promotion, its days appeared numbered.
ISC and NASCAR executives, meanwhile, have their own operations to consider. NASCAR is laying the groundwork for negotiating a new network TV package, and ratings are slumping and sponsors are few and far between. So NASCAR wants to sweeten the pot for the networks by adding the Seattle market and adding a second tour stop in Kansas City, or possibly Chicago (more likely Kansas, since it is owned 100 percent by ISC). And now Darlington Raceway and Martinsville Speedway have suddenly been dragged into the speculation.
There has been speculation on and off for several years that ISC would be willing to sell Darlington to Smith and let him move a Cup date to Texas, because Darlington, an hour south of Rockingham, typically doesn't do well at the gate. This past Sunday's crowd at Darlington was a fine one, but the stands were almost empty on Friday and Saturday. Compare that to Las Vegas, for example, where Friday qualifying drew 50,000 and Saturday's Busch race drew more than 100,000.
Rusty Wallace said he sold more souvenirs in two days at Las Vegas than he did during all of SpeedWeeks at Daytona.
"You cannot deny how big it is out here, and how much we need to be out here twice," Wallace told NASCAR officials at Las Vegas.
So there is renewed speculation that ISC is willing to sell Darlington to Smith, possibly to move a Cup date to Las Vegas.
How much might Darlington cost? In terms of facilities, not much at all. However, its two Cup dates would be worth millions, particularly if those dates were moved to Dallas-Fort Worth and/or Las Vegas. Smith wasn't willing to put a price tag on the old track: "First, I would have to find out if it's for sale. Then I'd have to find to out what they want for it. I'm not going to bid for another man's property. Maybe I can't afford it."
Richmond International Raceway, for example, cost ISC $137 million; Las Vegas was valued at $150 million when Smith bought it.
Over the weekend, sources in Texas pointed to Martinsville Speedway as a possible candidate to lose a tour race if ISC is realigned.
Clay Campbell, the head of Martinsville Speedway, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday on that, but Mike Smith, Martinsville's public-relations director, said that there's nothing to that report and denied that Campbell had sold controlling interest in the track to the France family.
"That's when the rumors start flying, when there's something going on, but we weren't ever on the hot seat," Mike Smith said.
Martinsville Speedway is a curious creature, in fact.
"ISC has never had any interest in this track," Mike Smith said. "But the France family itself does. The family owns 50 percent of the track, but that is separate from ISC.
"Nothing has been sold."
So could the France family take its 50 percent in the form of a Cup date and move it to another track if it wished?
"I wouldn't have any idea," Mike Smith said. "I wouldn't even want to comment, that's so far above my head. But I can tell you this with some certainty, there isn't any chance of any dates leaving here.
"Obviously I can't see 10 years down the road, but in the immediate future it certainly isn't going to happen. And what I can speak to are the rumors that we could lose a race next season, and that's not going to happen.
"You never say never about anything, that's what Clay always says, but we have no reason to think we would lose a date because we're doing everything NASCAR has asked," Smith said. "We're selling out events, we've got good TV ratings, we have the amenities we need. So we still feel very comfortable.
"These type rumors just crop up every now and then, and we just try to stamp them out and keep selling tickets."
If it weren't for bad luck, there be no luck at all...
That seems to be the motto for poor old Darlington Raceway
Darlington and North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, both owned by International Speedway Corp., will probably be sold to rival Speedway Motorsports Inc. The deal wiil be part of a settlement in a pending lawsuit between shareholders from Texas Motor Speedway, an SMI track, and NASCAR.
When that happens, two of the three race dates between Darlington and Rockingham will go to,Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. owned, Texas and Las Vegas tracks. That would leave just one date to be shared every other year between Darlington and Rockingham, and the date would include a Nextel Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series race.
Sources also say that Darlington is losing its spring race to Kansas City, Phoenix or Chicago - all ISC tracks which have a larger capacity than NASCAR's oldest superspeedway at Darlington.
When the change occurs, nine of the 36 Cup points races would be held west of the Mississippi River. Ten years ago, the series had two such races. Five years ago, there were five such races.
Smith would not comment Tuesday about the settlement talks other than to say, "That's up to my lawyers to get it resolved."
He reaffirmed his belief that Texas and Las Vegas should have two Cup races each per year.
"The drivers, the car owners and the people that are supporting this sport of ours, they all want to go to Vegas," Smith said of a second race there.
"When you look at Texas, you look at Fort Worth and Dallas, that metroplex is huge. I see some of the figures where they combine it and it becomes the third largest city in the country."
Smith built Texas Motor Speedway to capitalize on a population of more than 2 million people in the county and the nation's seventh-largest TV market.
Smith contends that NASCAR promised him a date for Texas, but he never received it. Texas has a date only because Smith bought half-ownership of North Wilkesboro Speedway and moved one of that track's dates. Bob Bahre bought the other half-ownership of the North Carolina track and moved North Wilkesboro's other date to his track, New Hampshire International Speedway, giving it two Cup races a year.
Francis Ferko, a shareholder in Speedway Motorsports Inc., filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Sherman, Texas, on Feb. 13, 2002, claiming NASCAR and International Speedway Corp., comprise a monopoly. Ferko claimed that by not giving Texas a second date as allegedly promised, his stock is not as valuable. Another shareholder, Russell Vaughn, joined the lawsuit last year. The case is scheduled for a July trial date. That trial now seems unlikely.
Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications said that "there are some things on the table," in regards to a settlement. Six weeks ago, NASCAR Chairman Brian France said he wasn't interested in a settlement.
"My preference is that we go try it in the courtroom," France said at Daytona. "A lot of the facts are in … and when you look at it -- and I've had a chance to look at it -- this whole idea that we're an anti-competitive environment isn't a reality. Speedway Motorsports has benefited immensely with the Nextel Cup series and NASCAR's push in general."
A spokeswoman for International Speedway Corp. did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.
There could be a large financial gain to moving races to the west. More than 180,000 people attend the Texas race -- about three times the size of Darlington's crowd Sunday. Las Vegas had a crowd of about 150,000 for its race this month -- about three times the size of Rockingham's crowd last month.
Those numbers equal big business. Rusty Wallace says he sold more souvenirs in two days at Las Vegas than in two weeks at Daytona this year. Wallace says his No. 1 track for selling souvenirs is Texas. He says those tracks are important for many reasons.
"You've got to listen to what the sponsors need, because these things run off of money," Wallace said of race teams, many of which have annual budgets of about $15 million. "They don't run off of feelings and stuff like that.
"We need to go to the venues that pay a lot of money, and it's really good for the sponsors, because if it's not good for the sponsors, they're not going to sponsor us and Team Penske won't be in business. That's just the way it is."
"I am not going to comment on rumor and speculation," Darlington Raceway President Andrew Gurtis said. "I am still on high after enjoying a banner weekend, and I'm not going to justify a comment."
Gurtis said he met this past weekend with NASCAR officials but nothing was ironed out as far as next year's schedule, which is typically released in the summer. Gurtis said he will meet with NASCAR again in late spring about the 2005 season.
"As far as I am concerned, we got two races for next year," he said. "We've hosted great races for the Cup series three years in a row. We had a sold-out Southern 500 last year and a record crowd for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400."
Cathy Mock, Darlington Raceway's public-relations specialist, handled the issue of a possible sale to Smith curtly: "We don't comment on rumor and speculation, nor do we comment on pending litigation."
Darlington winner Jimmie Johnson addressed the subject on Tuesday morning.
“I definitely understand the history of our sport and the tracks that are behind our sport,” said Johnson. “Darlington’s been there for a long, long time, but with the growth of our sport, we’ve got to do what’s necessary to keep it alive and growing. We have a high saturation of races within the North Carolina area. There are areas within four or five states with only one event each year. We do need to spread the schedule out to help the sport grow.”
But Johnson loves racing at Rockingham and Darlington, and he also understands the fact that quality should count for something.
“Ideally, there should be one event at every track, and we should have 36 different tracks in 36 different states,” he said.
Rumors of the track losing one of its dates have been swirling for several years and have picked up steam because of the lawsuit, which was filed two years ago by Texas Speedway shareholders Francis Ferko and Rusty Vaughn.
The suit alleges possible antitrust violations in NASCAR's relationship with ISC. NASCAR officials deny that a promise for a second Cup date at Texas was made.
The case is supposed to go to trial in July, but reports indicate an out-of-court settlement is close to being reached.
When Rockingham's race in February didn't sell out, despite fine weather and good promotion, its days appeared numbered.
ISC and NASCAR executives, meanwhile, have their own operations to consider. NASCAR is laying the groundwork for negotiating a new network TV package, and ratings are slumping and sponsors are few and far between. So NASCAR wants to sweeten the pot for the networks by adding the Seattle market and adding a second tour stop in Kansas City, or possibly Chicago (more likely Kansas, since it is owned 100 percent by ISC). And now Darlington Raceway and Martinsville Speedway have suddenly been dragged into the speculation.
There has been speculation on and off for several years that ISC would be willing to sell Darlington to Smith and let him move a Cup date to Texas, because Darlington, an hour south of Rockingham, typically doesn't do well at the gate. This past Sunday's crowd at Darlington was a fine one, but the stands were almost empty on Friday and Saturday. Compare that to Las Vegas, for example, where Friday qualifying drew 50,000 and Saturday's Busch race drew more than 100,000.
Rusty Wallace said he sold more souvenirs in two days at Las Vegas than he did during all of SpeedWeeks at Daytona.
"You cannot deny how big it is out here, and how much we need to be out here twice," Wallace told NASCAR officials at Las Vegas.
So there is renewed speculation that ISC is willing to sell Darlington to Smith, possibly to move a Cup date to Las Vegas.
How much might Darlington cost? In terms of facilities, not much at all. However, its two Cup dates would be worth millions, particularly if those dates were moved to Dallas-Fort Worth and/or Las Vegas. Smith wasn't willing to put a price tag on the old track: "First, I would have to find out if it's for sale. Then I'd have to find to out what they want for it. I'm not going to bid for another man's property. Maybe I can't afford it."
Richmond International Raceway, for example, cost ISC $137 million; Las Vegas was valued at $150 million when Smith bought it.
Over the weekend, sources in Texas pointed to Martinsville Speedway as a possible candidate to lose a tour race if ISC is realigned.
Clay Campbell, the head of Martinsville Speedway, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday on that, but Mike Smith, Martinsville's public-relations director, said that there's nothing to that report and denied that Campbell had sold controlling interest in the track to the France family.
"That's when the rumors start flying, when there's something going on, but we weren't ever on the hot seat," Mike Smith said.
Martinsville Speedway is a curious creature, in fact.
"ISC has never had any interest in this track," Mike Smith said. "But the France family itself does. The family owns 50 percent of the track, but that is separate from ISC.
"Nothing has been sold."
So could the France family take its 50 percent in the form of a Cup date and move it to another track if it wished?
"I wouldn't have any idea," Mike Smith said. "I wouldn't even want to comment, that's so far above my head. But I can tell you this with some certainty, there isn't any chance of any dates leaving here.
"Obviously I can't see 10 years down the road, but in the immediate future it certainly isn't going to happen. And what I can speak to are the rumors that we could lose a race next season, and that's not going to happen.
"You never say never about anything, that's what Clay always says, but we have no reason to think we would lose a date because we're doing everything NASCAR has asked," Smith said. "We're selling out events, we've got good TV ratings, we have the amenities we need. So we still feel very comfortable.
"These type rumors just crop up every now and then, and we just try to stamp them out and keep selling tickets."
