Smith wants to buy NHRA

UPDATE #2 Speedway Motorsports track owner Bruton Smith says SMI will make a formal presentation in the next seven to ten days to purchase the National Hot Rod Association [NHRA]. The proposal was to be made last week however due to the death of the wife of NHRA director Wally Parks the meeting was postponed. “I hope that (the presentation) will mean something", said Smith, "but we haven’t bought it yet. I expect to buy it but when I don’t know. They approached me about selling to me…that was the first indication and of course I got interested and so I’m still interested. They do what we do but in a different way…they forget to turn left…they go straight but they sell tickets and that’s what we do. If I buy it we’ll be doing the same thing." If SMI completes purchase of the drag racing series Smith says the headquarters would be moved from Glendora, California to Las Vegas. PRN's Garage Pass Radio Show

[Editor's Note: Another example of the rich oval track cartel acquiring and taking over all forms of racing in the USA. Will they slowly kill off drag racing and funnel those sponsors toward NASCAR too? If so it will further feed the conspiracy theory that there are too many forms of racing and in the end there will only be NASCAR, just as there is one MLB, NHL, NBA and NFL]

04/06/05 A source close to the scene, who preferred to remain anonymous, gave Racing Milestones a little background: “Smith won’t be building any more tracks for NASCAR competition. If any are built, it will be ISC doing it. So that leaves SMI with no growth opportunity. That means there’s nothing to spike the stock, not a good position if you want to grow." Racing Milestones source went on. “So what’s the next best option? NHRA. Why? Because Smith not only would get NHRA, but their tracks, too. I don’t see a sale of NHRA, but the sanctioning body might unload a couple of tracks in a hurry." How many millions will he have to part with for NHRA? Who knows? A little history. When former racer and track owner Billy Meyer bought IHRA from Larry Carrier back in 1988, all he got was contracts for the various races and Drag Review. There were no tracks included in the sale. Then Meyer became interested in obtaining NHRA or merging the two sanctioning bodies. So maybe if Smith wants to learn the obstacles he faces in obtaining a non-profit sanctioning body such as NHRA and turning it into a for-profit deal, he might contact Meyer. And what does NHRA have to say about all this? It’s probably best explained in a release by Jerry Archambeault, the sanctioning body’s vice president of communications and public relations, which is simply: “NHRA is not in discussions with Bruton Smith regarding the purchase of NHRA." Racing Milestones

04/03/05 Bruton Smith, president and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports, said last week he wants to acquire the National Hot Rod Association, a California-based drag race sanctioning organization. The association presents 23 national drag racing events, including the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. It also conducts a racing series for import cars and 47 regional races, and it sanctions more than 100 drag strips across the country. "This is something I’m very interested in," Smith said. "If the powers that be decide we can buy it, we want to buy it. I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls from racers who said they would appreciate it if we did that, and I think it fits with what we do." When asked about a sale, NHRA’s vice president of public relations and communications, Jerry Archambeault, read a brief statement in which he denied the association was talking to Smith. But Smith said he recently talked about a deal with Wally Parks, the organization’s founder and a member of its board of directors. Smith said he also discussed the possibility with association President Tom Compton last year. In addition to Bristol Dragway, Speedway Motorsports owns NHRA drag strips in Las Vegas and Sonoma, Calif. NHRA owns and operates drag strips in Gainesville, Fla.; Pomona, Calif.; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis and Atlanta. Any purchase would include the tracks, all racing series, sanctioning agreements and a television agreement with ESPN. Bristol Herald Courier