Smith to drop Kentucky lawsuit to get date

Bruton Smith has big plans for the Kentucky Speedway that include bringing NASCAR’s top series to the Sparta track. The chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., which is buying the speedway, repeated his belief today that a Sprint Cup race still can happen by 2009 if the track’s current ownership stops fighting NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. in appeals court.

“If they could decide, maybe, ‘Let’s drop that lawsuit and put it behind us,’ then I’m still optimistic on ’09," Smith said. “So that’s what I’m still hoping for. If we can get some agreement from the people we’re buying from I think there’s a great possibility we get that done."

Kentucky Speedway filed suit in 2005 alleging NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. violated federal antitrust laws and hurt independent race tracks, “by doling out (Sprint) Cup races to those tracks that will best protect the market power of NASCAR and ISC – to the detriment of Kentucky Speedway and of all those who want to see true competition in the stock car racing industry." The suit was dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge in January, but the speedway appealed the decision.

Smith said he spoke with NASCAR officials as recently as Monday about bringing a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky Speedway next year. The appeal, he said, is holding up progress.

“They (NASCAR) said the reason why, and I have not read this, something that I was named as a co-conspirator or something," Smith said. “That gives them a major problem. It doesn’t give me a problem because I’m just purchasing assets. We’re not involved in that lawsuit at all. I guess NASCAR is playing hardball. I’m hoping they’ll soften up." Cincinnati, Enquirer