Speedway Motorsports Inc is buying Kentucky Speedway

[DebWilliams-GFN]

By: Deb Williams

CONCORD, N.C. (May 22, 2008) – Speedway Motorsports Inc. has scheduled a press conference for Thursday afternoon to apparently announce it has acquired Kentucky Speedway.

The press conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Speculation has SMI moving one of its New Hampshire race dates to Kentucky. There is also speculation that SMI has acquired Pocono Raceway and would move one of its dates to Las Vegas. However, Dr. Joe Mattioli, owner of Pocono, has said in previous years that he had an agreement with NASCAR's first president, Bill France Sr., that the France family had first option on the track and the agreement extended to each family's grandchildren.

In 2005, Kentucky Speedway officials filed a lawsuit against NASCAR in an attempt to gain a Sprint Cup date.

[admin]

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2008--Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE:TRK) has agreed to purchase Kentucky Speedway from Kentucky Speedway, LLC. The agreement was announced today by O. Bruton Smith, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008.

Kentucky Speedway, which opened in 2000, hosts one NASCAR Nationwide Series event, one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, one IndyCar Series event and other racing events each year. The speedway is located in Sparta, Ky., approximately one-half hour south of Cincinnati, Ohio. The speedway is easily accessible via modern highways.

Located on approximately 820 acres, Kentucky Speedway features a 1.5-mile tri-oval speedway, with chair-back grandstand seating for 66,089 spectators, 50 luxury suites with seats for approximately 2,000, 100 private RV spaces, 200 reserved camping spaces and 1,000 unreserved camping spaces. Kentucky Speedway regularly hosts near capacity crowds for its Nationwide Series events.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our company to grow into a new market in a modern speedway facility. We continue to be committed to investing in the motorsports industry," said Smith.

Smith added that he has offered Jerry Carroll, who was instrumental in the development of Kentucky Speedway, the opportunity to remain involved in its future operations.

Kentucky Speedway will join an outstanding lineup of SMI facilities. The company also owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway; Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn.; Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.; Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.; New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in Loudon, N.H.; and Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas.

With this acquisition, the company will own race tracks in the West, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and Southwest, including four of the nation's top-10 designated market areas.

The breakdown includes: the fifth-largest market (Texas/Dallas-Ft. Worth); the sixth-largest market (Infineon/San Francisco); the seventh-largest market (New Hampshire/Boston); the eighth-largest market (Atlanta); the 25th-largest market (Lowe's/Charlotte); the 33rd-largest market (Kentucky/Cincinnati): the 43rd-largest market (Las Vegas); and the 91st-largest market (Bristol/Tri-Cities).