The news outlets have been abuzz recently with word that racing magnate Bruton Smith wants to build a drag strip at the Lowes Motor Speedway complex in Concord. This alone should hardly be newsworthy – Smith generally does what he wants and gets away with it. After all, his mammoth track is certainly one of the generators of income in the region, and has been so for a while.
However, with Concord Mills right up the road being the number one tourist destination in the state (how about that?), he only has so much bargaining power. While the speedway used to be the only thing at that exit of the freeway, there are now hotels galore – including a full-service Embassy Suites and apparent plans to open a Great Wolf Lodge, restaurants and any number of things. The track just isn’t what it one was. So when he makes a move, does it matter like it once did?
My first instinct is that it probably does not. But that it bears inspection.
The City of Concord decided that when Bruton Smith started grading land for a drag strip, it should promptly enact legislation that specifically outlawed drag strips. A case can be made that this wasn’t an act against Mr. Smith, but let’s face it – how many potential drag strips are being built in Concord? It was a move against him. Naturally, he reacted. Though probably in a way that was unexpected.
Faced with a potentially $200 million bill for upgrading the facilities of his track, he promptly announced that if the city wouldn’t let him play how he wanted to (by building the drag strip when and where he wanted), he’d go elsewhere. It’s like a kid. It’s worse than a kid – it’s a rich kid who has the resources to do it. As far as the Charlotte region is concerned, Mr. Smith says that he’d like to stay in the area – which he says he can do if he can put together the land – which will allow him to simply shift his currently assigned races. If he moves, he may lose them.
So for the rest of the area, it may be a bit of a push. As far as Concord goes, they might lose out. The next county up the road (Rowan) immediately jumped in and offered land and open arms. But Smith said that he’d like to stay the same distance from the airport – which effectively rules out Rowan. It’s too far in the other direction.
But his counter-attack worked. The city scrambled, and tried to make nice. At this writing, they are even saying that they will completely revoke the law that they tried to hard (and so quickly) to put into effect. So his plan worked. But he’s not backing down.
A recent article said that the chances are about 90% that he’ll move. He’d rather spend $350 million to build an entirely new complex than $200 million to upgrade the one he has. It’s an interesting gambit. He got what he wanted – the city is backing down, and he’s even likely to get some tax breaks on the drag strip if he wants them. But he’s not taking it. It seems to me like he’s had something in the works all along, and this was just a catalyst for it.