Charlotte Track Sponsor Future Unclear

The "Lowe's" in Concord, N.C.'s Lowe's Motor Speedway may or may not be around in 2010, depending on who you've listened to this weekend.

Bruton Smith -- he's the owner of the LMS' parent company Speedway Motorsports Inc. -- said Saturday that he doesn't envision seeing the home improvement store chain involved with the flagship track of the nine he currently he owns thanks to contract discussions that aren't even close to agreement.

Meanwhile, Smith's son Marcus heads the Charlotte-area track and disputed the report in the SportsBusiness Journal that the two sides had walked away from the bargaining table -- leaving lots of questions and not many answers.

The original SBJ report said that the track and Lowe's had been trying to find common ground between Lowes' offer in the neighborhood of $3.5 million -- the original 10-year naming rights deal on the track that started in 1999 was good for $34.6 million over the course of the contract -- while SMI was looking to significantly up the asking price to somewhere near $9 million.

SBJ cited a number of factors including the overall economic impact that has occurred lately in the home construction sector as well as what figures to be a heavily rising price for the other major NASCAR commitment for Lowe's, sponsorship of the three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 ride.

The deal with Johnson is slated for renewal in 2010 and his on-track success is sure to up the asking price to the highest neighborhood of Sprint Cup sponsor pricing.

And so Bruton, talking with reporters at the site of Saturday night's IndyCar race at the SMI-owned Kentucky Speedway, figured his company will be looking for a replacement.

"I think we'll miss them," said Smith during one of his always wide-ranging press conferences. "Sometimes you're negotiating and maybe you ask to much, but I don't know."

Bruton's words came just hours after both his son Marcus -- he also has the title of SMI President and CEO -- denied the report that discussions with Lowe's had ended.

"We're still working on and discussing the components of another extension to continue our relationship," Marcus Smith told the AP. "Those components have not been finalized, but the process is moving along."

A representative from Lowe's also denied that anything official had happened in the discussions.

Confusion over what exactly has transpired has long been a tactic of Bruton Smith and SMI, as the man is quite saavy when it comes to business and getting what he wants.

For proof, just look at the deal he sewed up with a once-rebilious new wave of Concord, N.C. city council members who tried to stop construction of a new drag strip on the LMS property. Smith threatened to completely shut down LMS, abandon it and build a new one in another part of the region -- yes, his claims got that far into left field -- and scared the Council into backing off their decision and giving the track millions in tax abatements and such.

In other words, while we don't know what exactly is going on with Lowe's and the old Charlotte Motor Speedway, Smith undoubtedly knows and has likely used this weekend to his advantage at the bargaining table.