Bruton Smith owns eight tracks across the country and if he has his way he would move the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway to Las Vegas.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is home of two races on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule. The Coca-Cola 600 will be run on Sunday but the fate of The Bank of America 500 is up in the air after Smith told WBTV that he would like to move the race to his track in Las Vegas.
WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC
The only Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas is held in early March. There has been continuous talk of the track getting a second race date but that date would have to come at the expense of another track currently on the circuit as NASCAR has not announced any plans of expending its schedule past 36 events.
Humpy Wheeler called Smith’s decision a bad deal all around.
Clearly the motivating factor in this for Smith is money. Smith has been involved in legal fights with Cabarrus County for years about roughly $60 million the county owes him for keeping the track there. He has been involved in an ongoing lawsuit against the county seeking millions for infrastructure improvements.
When asked if he could make more money with a second race in Las Vegas the 86-year-old was certain he could.
“Yes, yes, yes. Oh yes,” Smith said. “Plus, we’re discussing a ten-year contract for a lot of money every year.”
