The number of seats at the Lowe's Motor Speedway "will
jump by about" 62% in the next eight years, increasing from
157,000 to "just over" 255,000, according to Leslie Gross of
the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. By 2007, seats will "completely
surround the 1.5-mile track." Lowe's Motor Speedway spent
$18M on construction this year, and next year the budget
will increase to $25M (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/21).
IN TEXAS: In Ft. Worth, Miles Moffeit examined the
first two years of the Texas Motor Speedway (TMS).
Development across from the Bruton Smith-owned track "has
yet to sprout, but two hotels are planned and nearby land
prices have soared. The speedway has sold virtually all of
the condominiums in a tower overlooking the oval, and its
just-completed Speedway Club tower will open this week"
(STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/21). In a sidebar, Simon Gonzalez
profiled Smith, who "makes money like the rest of us make a
mess -- effortlessly, regularly." TMS GM Eddie Gossage:
"I've got to believe his IQ must be in the genius level,
because he never forgets anything" (STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/21).
