The History of Bruton Smith & Charlotte Motor Speedway "According" to Bank of America

I'm stuck living in Charlotte and subscribe to the local paper, The Charlotte Observer , a left leaning rag that editorially stands up for anything that flies in the face of most ordinary, taxpaying, family folk.

So, this beautiful Sunday morning I was treated to a front page headline in large letters praising the latest exploits of the Democratic National Convention to dig into taxpayers' pockets.

Then I was treated to a wonderful piece telling of all the marvelous things our "undocumented immigrant" community contributes to Charlotte while we "documented" taxpayers subsidize them.

By the time I got to page 3 of the front section of the Sunday Charlotte paper, I was ready to barf. Page 3 is where the Belk Department Stores used to begin their multi-page ads back in the days when department stores could afford newspaper advertising rates.

Today's page 3 of the Charlotte paper, however, contains a full page ad for Bank of America. But, this is not just any ad. This ad is supposed to tell me how Charlotte Motor Speedway is helping to keep the local economy on track.

The ad goes on to talk about the history of CMS and its building and financing. Prominently mentioned is Bruton Smith. Not mentioned at all are Curtis Turner or Richard Howard.

In the ad, the bank claims to have worked with the track from the beginning to provide financing. There is no mention of Curtis Turner approaching the Teamster's Union for financing when the bank didn't provide enough. We know what happened to Curtis.

There is no mention of Bankruptcy and the disappearance of Bruton while Richard Howard saved the Speedway.

I have attempted to do a little cutting and pasting to present the contents of the full page ad. Was I just having a bad Sunday morning, or does an ad that leaves out so much info while patting the bank and Bruton on their backs irritate you, too??

Isn't BoA justWonderful!

And I just came back from a wonderful trip to Middle Ga. I feel sick

Bobby, I thought of you Friday morning.

My older daughter, hubby and their son were driving from Charlotte to Oak Island.

The daughter called enroute and said she noticed they'd be passing some town that was spelled kinda like Charlotte, but started with an "S."

I told her that was Bopperville, lol!

LOL, Dave..........historically speaking........Shallotte was named for the Shallotte (Charlotte) River, which was named for England's Queen Charlotte. Queen Charlotte was from the German province ofMecklenberg ...became the bride of the King of England back in the days when European aristocracy chose to marry across border lines to creating a political-geographical network.

Shallotte is documented as Charlotte (in traveler's diary......I crossed the river at Charlotte) in 1734, but by 1792 Methodist-circuit-riding-evangelist, Francias Asbury, recorded in his diary......the people of Charlotte, with much vulgar and impropriety, no lonerrefer to their community as Charlotte, but have vulgarized the pronounciation, and now call it Shallotte! And, furthermore, I would not visit this area with its abundance of swamps, bogs, drains, and mosquitoes, were it not for the abundance of sinners who live there!!! (LOL!!!)

But, there was another settlement in colonial North Carolina, one who's inhabitants did not corrupt their community's name.........in fact they were so impressed with Queen Charlotte, they named their county after her home province.....and that, sports fans, is why Charlotte, NC is known as the Queen City, and is located in Mecklenberg county!.

I'm sure Francis Asbury would have agreed that the area around Shallotte is ripe for the efforts of the Rev. Stagger!

I'm sure ole Brian Moynihan, current embattled CEO of the Great Bank, who resides in BOSTON, Massachusetts, could care less about the facts of the origins of CMS or Bruton Smith.

Mr. Moynihan and Mr. Obama's top treasury guy, Timothy "I Forgot to Pay My Taxes" Geithner make quite a sniveling duo.

And.... inquiring minds want to know...

Does the Right Reverend normally carry a "Stagger Stick" to those "dens of iniquity" sometimes called stock car tracks?

Seriously, folks, Bank of America has been fined enough for violations of lending practices, etc. to finance at least 6 Cup teams, 4 Nationwide teams and a couple of truck teams. I have worked in a capacity where the firm with which I was contacted did work for BoA. Regardlessof the Rules of Engagement, I have to say that Bank is staffed by the largest group of ignorant people ever gathered in one business enterprise. Half of them can barely speak English, and the other half can't understand it. BoA has more ways of messing with its customers than NASCAR has of screwing the fans. I would definitely bury my money in the back yard in a coffee can if BoA was the only bank around. And this little diatribe barely scratches the surface of my dislike and distrust of BoA.

Today's casual fan does not know the real story of CMS, chances are they weren't even born at the time, and they're definitely interested enough to dig up the real story, or even care. This syrupy Bruton and BoA version of 'the real' story of CMS will become the official version of history.

I have no idea of the origin of that photo.. simply used it to illustrate the Stagger Stick tire measuring device.

I'd never seen anything but a tape used to measure tires until I went to my first Winston West race in 1984. All of those guys were using a stagger stick named the "Stagger Master," which of course makes me thing of the Reverend Stagger!

Hello Dave,

Have you read the book on Curtis Turner call Timber On the Moon???

I have the book & its tells more on your story.

Thanks

Harlow Reynolds---Lynchburg,Va.