SMI Completes Kentucky Speedway Purchase; Is Cup Race Next?

SMI Formally Completes Purchase Of Kentucky Speedway, But Still Lacks Cup Race

SMI has completed its purchase of Kentucky Speedway, according to Kevin Kelly of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. SMI agreed in May to buy the track for $78.3M, including a $63.3M debt assumption, from an ownership group headed by Jerry Carroll. Kentucky Speedway becomes SMI’s only track without an existing spot on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series schedule, and SMI Chair & CEO Bruton Smith Wednesday reiterated that he “wants to bring a Cup series race” to the track. Meanwhile, Kelly noted the sale is “separate from the still-simmering federal antitrust lawsuit filed in 2005 by the original ownership group against NASCAR and its sister company,” ISC. The suit “remains alive” in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Smith has said that he “would like to see the lawsuit go away,” but Carroll Wednesday reiterated that the “appeal will continue.” Carroll: “We’re hanging in there.” Kelly noted delays in the court appeal -- all final briefs in the appeal are due by January 28 -- “could hinder SMI’s attempts to bring a Cup race to Kentucky Speedway for the 2010 season” (CINCINNATI.com, 12/31). Kentucky Speedway joins tracks in Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Ft. Worth, Las Vegas, New Hampshire and Sonoma as part of SMI’s portfolio (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/1).