Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/22/13 03:19:33PM
9,138 posts

May 22 - Anniversary of two Petty Enterprises Wins


Stock Car Racing History

Tim, reckon we ought to add another one to Jeff's "you know you are a rodeo goat" series?

Perhaps, like me, "You know you are an OLD rodeo goat when you remember solid blue Petty Enterprises cars."

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/22/13 12:29:13PM
9,138 posts

Racing History Minute - May 22, 1955


Stock Car Racing History

That must have been one messed up race track at Richmond in 1955. Thanks, Tim.

What can y'all tell me about the "sponsorship" name Helzafire used by owner, "Colonel" Ernest Woods of Winchester, Kentucky on the Oldsmobiles of Jim Paschal in 1955? Was Helzafire a horse, a product or just a phrase to equate with speed?

I note that Colonel Woods was the owner of the winning Daytona beach road course entry that led to Tim Flock's disqualification and suspension for the soldered screws on the carburetor and that many also credit Woods with the first two-way radio in race cars in 1953.

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/21/13 11:02:14AM
9,138 posts

Racing History Minute - May 21, 1971


Stock Car Racing History

Thanks, Tim. That race would have left a bad taste in a paying fan's mouth regardless of who the fan pulled for.

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/21/13 10:58:54AM
9,138 posts

1968 Daytona pre-race


Current NASCAR

Really good stuff. I particularly enjoyed seeing so many of the Late Model Sportsman cars. Thanks for posting.

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/21/13 04:34:13PM
9,138 posts

Bruton Says 70% Sure He'll Move Fall Charlotte Race to Las Vegas


Current NASCAR

You said one of the magic words, Johnny - BIAS - let's bolt some on and slide through those turns and let it all hang out.

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/21/13 04:32:47PM
9,138 posts

Bruton Says 70% Sure He'll Move Fall Charlotte Race to Las Vegas


Current NASCAR

Put this fellow down as another 100 percenter!

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/20/13 05:22:02PM
9,138 posts

Bruton Says 70% Sure He'll Move Fall Charlotte Race to Las Vegas


Current NASCAR

Bruton Smith has escalated his war with the City of Concord, NC and Cabarrus County over what he claims are broken promises to reimburse him (Speedway Motorsports) for road improvements around the Charlotte racetrack. He claims to be 70% sure he'll move his October Charlotte race to another venue and is not shy to say $$$ talk.

Bruton Smith: 70% chance I'll move race out of Charlotte

Posted:May 20, 2013 4:27 PM EDT Updated:May 20, 2013 5:03 PM EDT
CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -

NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith says there is a strong possibility that he will move the Bank of America 500 out of Charlotte.

The Bank of America 500 is one of two annual races held at Smith's Charlotte Motor Speedway, along with May's Coca-Cola 600. The BoA 500 is held in October.

"I know you're not gonna cut this one out, but I've been having some strong conversations about one of these events being moved," Smith told WBTV's Paul Cameron in an exclusive interview. "And Las Vegas is a great place - it's the entertainment capital of the world - and they want another event."

In addition to owning the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the North Carolina native owns eight NASCAR tracks, including the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which host eleven NASCAR Sprint Cup events.

The only Sprint Cup race that is currently held on the LVMS is the Kobalt Tools 400, which is held in early March.

Smith says he's flown out to Vegas several times to talk about moving a Sprint Cup race to his track there.

"They've made me offers to move one," Smith said.

"But you can't just move the race though, doesn't NASCAR have to move it?" Cameron asked.

"I know they would approve this," Smith responded. "And say the October race... Las Vegas. You're gonna get a lot of phone calls about this - I'm gonna predict that."

Smith says the idea of moving to Vegas is not just a fishing expedition.

"I've made two trips out to Vegas and it costs money to go out there. I know all the powers out there," he told WBTV. "I have a lot of friends in Las Vegas - I have businesses out there, I have six businesses in Las Vegas."

The Charlotte Motor Speedway is based in Concord, North Carolina. Smith has been involved in legal fights with Cabarrus County for years over money he is owed.

In fact, in 2009 Smith filed a lawsuit against the city and county seeking millions of dollars worth of infrastructure improvements near the Concord track. Smith claimed officials breached a contract by not following through on the infrastructure improvements. The improvements were part of the agreement reached to keep CMS in Concord after a bitter dispute flared up over the construction of the zMax Dragway.

"Some of your dear friends over at Cabarrus County are gonna say 'Is he? Is he? Is he?' Well... he may," Smith said. "Someone once said 'follow the money.' Well, if we do this, we will be following the money because, here again, there's a lot of money in Las Vegas. And if it gets to be strong enough, I imagine we might do something like that."

Smith says he initially kept the track there after a $80 million deal was presented to him, $60 million from Cabarrus County and another $20 million from the state. He says the county still hasn't come through with their end of the deal.

"It's not a threat, per se," Smith told WBTV. "I think some people know about this, because they say sometimes there's no secrets."

When asked if he thought he could make more money at a race in Las Vegas versus having a race in Charlotte, Smith's answer was simple.

"Yes, yes, yes. Oh yes," he said. "Plus, we're discussing a ten-year contract for a lot of money every year."

According to Smith, money plays a huge factor in his possible move. He says a lot of the hotel/casinos in Vegas would love to have the race there, because race fans would fill up the hotels.

"You've got 150,000 rooms out there, more than any city in the world," he said. "And they want to fill up those hotels, and we do fill'em up. That's good."

Smith played a major role in getting NASCAR to move the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards from New York to Las Vegas five years ago.

When it comes to a timeline on the potential move, Smith says this isn't a spur of the moment idea.

"Oh, now there you're pinning me down. I don't know how soon, that's just, it's something that's been in the stages now for at least a year."

So what's it going to take to move the race from Charlotte to Vegas?

"When the game is over, it'll be money, money, money. Money will move it," Smith said. "I'd say [the chances] are about 70/30."

When asked about the tradition of the fall race and the economic impact it has on Charlotte, Smith says the idea isn't about hurting Charlotte.

"We don't like to hurt Charlotte in any way, shape or form. We might have something smaller in its place, even though we move the Cup out there, there might be something else here."


updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM
Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/21/13 04:30:44PM
9,138 posts

Sink or swim.


Stock Car Racing History

I knew we were in trouble when DW, Mike Joy, Larry Whopper, oops Mac and the rest of the television braintrust couldn't average the finishes of the contestants in the first segments and figure who was due to be in what order to pit for the final segment.

It's gotten so hokey that I'm not certain it can be saved or needs to be saved, either.

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
05/20/13 04:33:13PM
9,138 posts

Sink or swim.


Stock Car Racing History

Humpy last year described the process of staging the event at night and mentioned how hard Paul had gone after it. We were sure at the time based on what T. Wayne had told us that the race was ours. Not the first time RJR said one thing but did something else, though.

I went with then sales manager Jim Duncan to Winston Salem in 1991 to visit RJ Reynolds Sports Marketing Dept. The meeting was with RJR director of sports T. Wayne Robertson to make a presentation for the 1992 Winston All Star Race. Our contract was always for one year. We yearly made a presentation to them to get the event back.

I was really worried that year because Richmond promoter Paul Sawyer really wanted the event. So, we made our presentation and presented them with five promotional ideas. Wayne and his group didn't like any of them and I thought we were going to lose the race. Right before the meeting ended I said: `Ok, I have another idea...let's run it on Saturday night.

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