November 17, 2007
By Larry Cottrill

Larry Cottrill

Ever since Bruton Smith’s purchase of New Hampshire International Speedway was announced, it seems everyone is looking for a villain to blame for whatever outcome they perceive to be approaching in the future regarding it’s two existing race dates.

Those who have been fans long for five or 10 years consider it sacrilegious for Smith to scheme to steal a date from NHIS for his Vegas track. Those of us who’ve been fans much, much longer, such as I however, recall that New Hampshire's fans got a second date at the expense of North Wilkesboro's disappearance all together, so I have little sympathy for them should they lose a date to Vegas, or any other track.

I’ve endlessly watched and read many conflicting comments from the talking heads of the NASCAR media, and they want to lay the blame for the feared loss of NHIS’s second date ( IF indeed that comes to fruition ) at the feet of either Bruton or NASCAR.

Well, who's the villain here, Bruton or NASCAR?

How can NASCAR be painted as the villain if Bruton chooses to move a date. This is the man who is willing to bulldoze Charlotte on principal. If he buys Loudon to secure an extra date for Las Vegas and NASCAR denies him that date, instead opting for Kentucky or some other venue, the lawsuits ensuing will dwarf those we've seen before at Texas and elsewhere.

NASCAR has become successful because it realizes more so than most major sports that it IS a business. If it were a smart business move to guarantee two dates at Loudon, ISC ( ie: NASCAR ) would have outbid Bruton for ownership of the New Hampshire track.

How can Bruton be the "Villain?"

If Bruton buys Loudon, it's his to do as he chooses with, regardless of our liking. There’s no denying that he could sell far more tickets at a second Vegas date than any NHIS race has ever sold. I think that Smith might even successfully lobby to have Vegas’ second date become the season finale. What better location to try to lure fans to spend Championship week? If Loudon losing a date irks you so much, you can "vote" with your wallet by boycotting attendance and TV viewer ship of SMI tracks, but don't think he's stupid for trying to improve his company. I feel certain that the thousands employed by SMI are quite happy to have Bruton’s vision at the helm of their empire.

So just who IS the "villain" if NHIS is to lose its second date?

It’s the "fault" of all of those that live in the New England area, and the surrounding "butter zone" ( within six hours of driving ), that claim they live in a "great racing fan bed." With all of the tens of millions that live in the metropolitan areas within a reasonable drive of Loudon, KANSAS SPEEDWAY ( !!! ) still sells 25,000 more tickets for its Cup date than any NHIS race. If indeed the New England area ( and the New York City area too ) WAS loaded with fans, the Bahre family would have been sitting on a goldmine all along, and would have been able to both raise ticket prices and easily sellout NHIS, which would have led to more than the 100,000 seats that is all that we have there. There’s no doubt that Bruton has the capital to expand NHIS’s seating to the point of its market’s capacity, but don’t hold your breath to see him grow it to a Las Vegas-like 160,000 any time soon ( unless he bulldozes it and rebuilds it as another Bristol ).

That’s business, that’s life, and that’s the way it is.

I live near Pittsburgh, where we have no track. Our closest Cup tracks are Pocono, Michigan, Richmond and Martinsville. You can bet your hind end that I frequent those tracks I don’t want to see lose dates or close all together. If you have any foresight, you’ll try to drive the extra miles to those other tracks that are in jeopardy to try to help save them before they too become only history. I made a point back in 2001 to make the 3rd race I attended that year be at Rockingham ( twice the track by the way - from a competition standpoint - that NHIS is ). I drove the distance from Pittsburgh, a good four hours longer of a trip than it would be from NYC to Loudon.

Rockingham was a victim of its location, being surrounded by so many other tracks that were competing for the same dollars from the same market. NHIS has no such excuse. You folks in that area had your track and, even with your multitudes, your attendance and expenditures have apparently not been enough in this day and age to warrant a two-date track.

Don’t blame Bruton or NASCAR. Look in the mirror, and remember this moment the next time a track is built close to you.

P.S. - The same goes for your local short track. Did you visit yours this past summer?

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.