New Hampshire Motor Speedway yesterday announced that track Exec VP & GM JERRY GAPPENS has resigned, but Gappens said that there is "no connection between his resignation and the lewdness charge he pleaded guilty to in May," according to a front-page piece by Nick Reid of the CONCORD MONITOR. Manchester police in January observed Gappens and a 19-year-old woman "in a vehicle in a downtown parking lot and arrested them amid a prostitution sweep." Gappens said the time is "right for me to move on to the next chapter of my life" after 23 years with Speedway Motorsports Inc. He said he has "a few different options" for what he will do next that he cannot share publicly. He added that he "plans to remain in New Hampshire, at least 'for now.'" Gappens was hired in '93 as Charlotte Motor Speedway Publicity Dir and was "tapped to oversee operations" at NHMS after SMI purchased it in '08. NHMS VP/Corporate Sales DAVID MCGRATH is "being promoted" to Exec VP & GM and will assume Gappens' job responsibilities (CONCORD MONITOR, 10/6). Gappens said that he "first discussed his resignation last week" with SMI, including CEO MARCUS SMITH. SMI "suspended Gappens after his arrest and imposed requirements on him." When Gappens met those requirements, he was "reinstated to his post." Gappens said that he hoped his arrest "wouldn’t define his legacy at NHMS." Gappens: "I wish it hadn’t happened or was part of my life. But I stood up to it, took ownership of it and eventually was reinstated. I can’t go back in the past" (New Hampshire UNION LEADER, 10/6).
THE REPLACEMENT: Smith in a statement said of McGrath, "I am confident the future of New Hampshire Motor Speedway is in good hands." In Boston, Michael Vega notes McGrath was "voted by his peers as the track’s Employee of the Year" in '12, promoted in January '13 to VP/Marketing & Promotions, then a year later to VP/Corporate Sales (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/6).
