Nascar and Racing Speedway Motorsports Inc

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.

Consider the effort to get NASCAR Sprint Cup racing in the Bluegrass State officially underway.

Monday, Speedway Motorsports Incorporated's Bruton Smith talked at Lowe's Motor Speedway about how he's revamping his recent Kentucky Speedway purchase, and more importantly, his plan to lobby NASCAR for a Sprint Cup date at the track in 2010.

But, come on, does NASCAR really need another 1.5-miler on its schedule -- even if it likely replaces another cookie-cutter track?

Friday afternoon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. graced the web pages of Sports Illustrated after writer Bruce Martin hung around with the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for a day's-worth of commercial work recently.

The piece was mostly centered around Earnhardt Jr.'s status as a commercial icon and previewed an ad for sponsor GoDaddy.com that will feature fellow Hendrick/JR Motorsports driver Brad Keselowski, but as we've come to expect from Earnhardt Jr., the driver didn't hold back when asked about some comments made during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Media tour just a few weeks back.

Those comments centered around Speedway Motorsports, Inc., chairman Bruton Smith claiming that the drivers need to do a little more to help sell tickets in the struggling climate that faces the 2009 season.

Texas Motor Speedway's Eddie Gossage has figured out a way to slash the prices on some tickets, remove 21,000 seats and still be in a position to make more money in 2009.

Perhaps we need to put ol' Eddie in charge of this seriously fun economic situation. And by seriously fun, I mean, well something a whole lot different.

Anywho, Gossage announced that -- count 'em -- 21,000 backstretch seats will be eliminated over the next 75 days and replaced with a nice, hopefully level, viewing mound that will accomdate the parking spots of 74 motorcoaches who will pay $15,000 per year for the most luxiorous accomodations a speedway could offer.

Wireless internet, pre-race pit passes, a dedicated concierge/assistant and a plethora of other offerings one would probably expect after dishing out $15k for a few race weekends are included, as well as passes for 10 people to the motorhome area, pit area during pre-race and a access to the track's Speedway Club.

So, if any of you NASCAR highballers out there need a know-it-all blogger to indulge in the fruits of your hospitality, I'll gladly make my way to the Lone Star State to help you out.

For the rest of us, TMS also announced a pretty good deal some of the remaining seats along the backstretch, or what is now dubbed "burnout alley".

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

Generally, when Bruton Smith says he'll do something, he's gonna do it.

So when Smith promised both the ownership group of Kentucky Speedway and the world at a news conference on Thursday confirming his purchase of the facility that Kentucky would have a Sprint Cup race date in 2009, you've got to believe it will happen.

But at what cost to other race dates?

The only obvious answer I've got is that next season, at least one race at a current track will be eliminated in favor of the event in the Bluegrass State.

There are now three race tracks left on the Sprint Cup schedule not owned by either International Speedway Corp. or Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. Those tracks are Indianapolis (one race), Dover (two races), and Pocono (two races).

The final two in that list are both on Smith's radar for purchase with the primary goal of moving one of those race dates to Kentucky. If such a deal can't happen, Smith may move a race date from one of his current race tracks, though the track presidents from Atlanta and New Hampshire Motor Speedways have released statements that they are signing agreements with NASCAR for 2009 race dates on Friday.

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

As I left Indianapolis Wednesday afternoon, I read that NASCAR's penultimate promoter, H.A. Humpy Wheeler of Lowe's Motor Speedway, was retiring effective after Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.

Humpy has long been the most recognizable track president on the Sprint Cup tour, and with that, he has been a fan favorite. His retirement, to say the least, was a shock.

Thursday the Charlotte Observer offered a little bit more into why Wheeler is exiting his role and it definitely helps affirm how big of a surprise his move is.

It turns out that Humpy is retiring, but not completely on his own terms.

H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler said Wednesday his retirement as president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway and as president and chief operating officer of Speedway Motorsports Inc. did not come entirely on his own terms.

"Some of it is," Wheeler said in officially announcing his decision. "I won't say it all is. We'll just leave it at that."

The "that" Wheeler is referring to is a rift between himself and the owner of SMI, Bruton Smith.

Friday afternoon, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gets down to business at Daytona with the first round of practice for the Budweiser Shootout, scheduled for 8:30pm/ET Saturday night on FOX. NASCAR Fanhouse will countdown the days with a look at the five stories that will rule the sport in 2008.

Towards the end of the 2007 season, a major announcement concerning the ownership of two-date race track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was made.

Bruton Smith, the owner of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., had purchased New Hampshire International Speedway from the independent Bob Bahre. Quickly renamed in line with SMI tracks to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, many felt that dates would be transferred away from the New England race track.

After all, Smith had originally started the idea of track-swapping after his purchase of the track North Wilkesboro, N.C. that soon found a new home at Texas Motor Speedway.

A lawsuit then changed North Carolina Speedway's last remaining date to a second one at the Texas track.

More changes could definitely be in store before the end of 2008.

Smith for years has tried to lobby NASCAR to find a second race-date at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Now, with two more race dates within his ownership, the rampant speculation after his purchase of New Hampshire was that he would immediately find a way to relocate at least one of those dates to Las Vegas.

Just a few months ago, the Concord, N.C.-area was facing the prospect of losing on of the nation's premiere racing facilities. Thursday, it was announced that the area will instead get another top-notch locale for a different form of racing.

A brand-spankin' new top-of-the-line drag strip temporarily named "The Drag Strip @ Lowe's Motor Speedway".

With an initial capacity of 30,000 and the option for double that, the NHRA already has an event on the 2008 schedule at the yet-to-be-built drag strip in September for the Carolina's Nationals. The area is already well-known for its support of the stock car racing community and seemingly another form of motorsports is a great fit in a relatively untapped market -- the exception being the Bristol Dragway a few hours away.

Plans for the controversial 1/4 mile track were officially given out by Speedway Motorsports head Bruton Smith in front of the NASCAR media tour audience.

The design is definitely not going to make this venue "just another part" of the Lowe's Motor Speedway complex. A part of the 125-acre development, the main tower at the starting line of the drag strip will offer 34,000 square feet of suites, scoring, a press box, and broadcast booths.

Tunnels will be constructed underneath of the race track to allow for spectators to access both sides easily, as well as easier access to the NHRA pit area widely known for its unrestricted access to all fans.

All of that, of course, will need to be finished by September. Wow.

Frankly, the track is going to be beautiful and very, very well done and I'd be the first one to be completely shocked if Bruton doesn't sell out the eliminations day for the next five years of the venue.