RIP BRUTON SMITH

[ANDY]

RIP ... brought a lot to our sport He will be missed 95 yrs old

 

[TSK]

NASCAR Hall of Famer Bruton Smith dies at 95

O. Bruton Smith, who emerged from rural North Carolina and parlayed his love of motorsports into becoming a NASCAR Hall of Famer and one of its most eccentric and successful promoters, died Wednesday. He was 95.

www.espn.com

 

[J. S.]

Man, I had no idea he was 95.

 

[65 Goatboy]

One of the last true motorsports visionaries and legends, stock car and drag racing. I think John Force has some great Bruton stories. RIP.

 

[.]

aww, man.
Love his contribution to the sport especially Las Vegas Motorspeedway. Only been there a handful of times and haven't been in a while, but I absolutely love how he made that facility. I feel like a king when I sit in that LVMS grandstand.
Thank you Mr. Smith.

 

[Notch1320]

Bruton was my buddy.

 

[Nunz]

Damn time flies, I had no idea Bruton was 95. Thanks for all of your contributions, RIP Mr. Smith.

 

[Pete]

Rest in Peace and thank you Mr. Smith

 

[mick]

Mr. Smith sure did a lot for nhra.......in what order did his properties enter our sport with his ownership?
vegas - sonoma - bristol - zmax ?

 

[vegasnitro]

Mr. Smith sure did a lot for nhra.......in what order did his properties enter our sport with his ownership?
vegas - sonoma - bristol - zmax ?

Sonoma was first, pretty sure the first race 1989. Bristol was next after they did the remodel, 1998. Vegas was 2000 and finally ZMax.

 

[ironpony]

A terrible day for drag racing. Does anyone know if there is a succession plan for the tracks or will the family sell to highest bidder.
Fact is there is not much money in drag racing facilities,
I am sure it was more his passion than financial

 

[megadeth]

Condolences to his family and friends!

 

[qualified17th]

A terrible day for drag racing. Does anyone know if there is a succession plan for the tracks or will the family sell to highest bidder.
Fact is there is not much money in drag racing facilities,
I am sure it was more his passion than financial

Nothing's changing on that side. Marcus (his son) has been the main man at SMI for a while now, Bruton has been more or less retired for the last few years.

And believe me, there is plenty of money running through that company. They ain't filing for bankruptcy anytime soon. Back in the 90s and 2000s when they had 120,000 people at Charlotte and 150,000 at Bristol for NASCAR they couldn't spend money fast enough. Even this year, they still had around 75,000-80,000 people at the Coca-Cola 600 times $50+ per person= $$$$