It's only 1.5 Million

According to the Charlotte Observer, Speedway Motorsports reported a loss of 1.5 million dollars for the first quarter of 2011. I guess that don't amount to much, after alll,Ol' Dr. Einstein maintains everything is relative. But, still, 1.5 million more dollars left the coffers than entered. According to the late Senator Everette Dirckson: "a million here and a million there..... pretty soon you talking real money........."

Not counting Exxon, negative financial numbers a'int exactly news, anymore, and every business except the federal government and their Wall Street pals, must eventually stop the slide. BUT, Speedway Motorsports is Bruton Smith, and all that Humpy Wheeler started, and they're razzle-dazzlers. What's more, SMI execs predict more of the same, blaming the weak economy and "soaring gas prices".

What to make of all this? What happens if auto racing's atrocious financial reality finallymakes its presence felt? Back in the stone-age, Richard Petty always maintained it cost $2.00 for every $1.00 he won. Who made up the slack? Balanced the budget? Stopped the slide? Well, (surprise) it was somebody else's (Joe Sponsor) money. Joe Sponsor, (not too mention his customers) now-a-days, is on the ropes.

Could auto racing actually operate as a business? Nobody really knows, cause they've never tried it. But, if the slide continues, some real-serious sipherin' is gonna happen. Might take Jethro Bodine to figure it out.

updated by @bobby-williamson: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

The last time both NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway were in severe trouble, the late and brilliant Richard Howard coerced a group of promoters into funding the Junior Johnson-built, Charlie Glotzbach-driven Chevy. I was at that May's World 600 and the attendance jump was amazing, as it was at the other tracks where the car appeared. Howard was listed as owner, but those other promoters each chipped in $10,000. Of course, Howard also saved the Atlanta track paying both the purse and the IRS who were ready to shut it down. Besides Raymond Parks, I think Howard might be the most overlooked figure in stock car racing. In my humble opinion, if any promoter deserves to be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, it's Richard Howard. And don't forget he also gave us World Championship Slow Pitch Softball, Mom & Pop's Country Biscuits and Restaurants, Western Steer Steak Houses and his Howard's Furniture car sponsorships. If not for Howard stepping in when Bruton bailed out and left town, there would have been no CMS for Bruton Smith to reclaim. And no Atlanta for Bruton to later purchase and quite possibly no NASCAR the way attendance was going. I think Humpy deserves much credit for the CMS success, but without Howard saving the place, there'd be no CMS.


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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"

I agree, Dave, Richard Howard was a dear friend to CMS, AIR, and stock car racing in general. You're right, he's another huge player that has fallen through the cracks.

What's particularly amazing, is that Howard is the listed car owner of record for 20 Cup wins by Bobby Allison and Cale in 1972 and 1973 in the Jr. fielded Chevy, as well asthe 1971 win credited to Glotzbach at Bristol. Pretty impressive to score 21 wins as car owner while saving a racetrack!


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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"

I don't have any idea how this situation will play out. It's common knowledge that attendance has been falling off and TV ratings are declining for NASCAR racing. For years, it seems to me that the cost of NASCAR racing has continued to escalate............for as long as the deep-pocket sponsors continued to keep that money stream flowing. One observation I have had is that NASCAR has seemed to believe that the sponsorship stream would not only continue, but would just get larger and larger. Now we're seeing signs that that isn't necessarily the case............especially with declining TV ratings - sponsors don't like that and will tend to reduce their advertising budgets. Having said that, I believe that NASCAR could have been taking steps to reduce the cost of NASCAR racing............but, instead, seems to have been going in the opposite direction in many cases - revamping the fueling systems, COT, etc. What would happen if NASCAR prohibited wind tunnel testing, track testing, tire testing, etc. Why couldn't GoodYear hire their own drivers to test the tires instead of having Cup drivers do it? There has to be many ways to reduce the cost of racing which NASCAR has not initiated. Although I have always believed that true race fans would always pay the price of a ticket to be at the race tracks, maybe the escalated cost of living will cause NASCAR to take a real serious look at reducing the costs and not only passing those savings to the fans, but also making it less expensive for more race teams to get involved.