iredell

Bruton Smith could move fall race out of Charlotte: NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith says there is a strong possibility that he will move the Bank of America 500 out of Charlotte, NC. 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. 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. 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." 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."(wbtv.com)(5-20-2013)

and before the haters start....

48 segment finishes: 15, 5, 3, 3 = 6.5 which was 4th fastest, then an 11.7 sec stop = restart 2nd = win!

See what happens when the old lady goes to bed early? Hard week and I worked yesterday. Thankfully I have it on DVR - congratulations to JJ and Team #49 on All Star win #4.

My driver #48

#5 & #20 tonight @ Charlotte for the ALL-STAR Race

Gonna take the #48, #5 and long shot for the #15. Just cannot do the #78, no way in h-e-double hockey sticks.

#18 & #48 tonight at (The Lady in Black) Darlington

JAYSKI

CREDIT JAYSKII -

UPDATE: Penske Racing won a partial victory Tuesday in its final appeal to have penalties against the Sprint Cup teams of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano overturned or reduced. NASCAR chief appellate officer John Middlebrook upheld all the fines and point penalties, but he reduced the suspensions of seven crew members from six races to two races. The crew members still will be suspended for the May 18 All-Star race. A week ago, the National Stock Car Racing panel unanimously upheld NASCAR's penalties, sending the final decision to Middlebrook. As a result, the 25-point deductions for Keselowski and Logano in the driver and owner standings stand. So do the $100,000 fines for crew chiefs Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon. But the suspensions for Wolfe, Gordon, chiefs Jerry Kelley and Raymond Fox, engineers Brian Wilson and Samuel Stanley and competition director Travis Geisler were reduced by four, which team owner Roger Penske considered a victory. The suspensions will begin this weekend at Darlington Raceway and include the May 26 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Those suspended will return for the June 2 race at Dover.(ESPN.com)(5-7-2013)

yup

Congratulations to Front Row and David Ragan.....wasn't he the one Tony called a "dart without feathers" at Martinsville some time ago?

The #20 was bad fast at DEGA but, the fastest car doesn't always win.

Congrats to Front Row Motorsports

If, the rain stays away today @ DEGA...

i'm going with SMOKE#14 & the #29 of KEVIN HARVICK tomorrow @ Talladega

I dislike restrictor plate racing, such a crapshoot, however, I'll take the #88 and #48 with a side bet on the #15

UPDATE: many reports on Twitter say the penalties against Penske Racing have been upheld by appeals panel. Penske will appeal to highest level, Chief Appellate Officer. John Middlebrook. Penske crew members will be able to work at Talladega pending approval of Middlebrook.(5-1-2013)
UPDATE 2: The National Car Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel upheld the penalties Wednesday to the Penske Racing teams of #2-Brad Keselowski and #22-Joey Logano. Team owner Roger Penske said he would appeal the ruling to National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook. "I can't make any comments, it's clear we have a process and I'm better off to wait to see that conclude," Penske said. "All I can say about the process is it's fair and equitable. We had an opportunity to explain our case in detail. We will move onto the next step."
The appeals panel of Pocono Raceway president Brandon Igdalsky, former NASCAR senior vice president Paul Brooks and Bowman-Gray Stadium operator Dale Pinilis took about five hours to hear arguments from both sides and deliberate on the decision. The three-person panel was chosen from a list of 49 eligible members.
"We take our inspection process very seriously," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "We believe we do a strong and credible job with it. The level playing field in the garage we believe is the best it's ever been. As the sanctioning body, we have to uphold the rules and regulations in the rulebook. The inspection process we believe in very strongly." Sprint Cup director John Darby presented NASCAR's side.
Team owner Roger Penske attended the hearing with chief lieutenants Walt Czarnecki (vice president of Penske Corp.) and Tim Cindric (Penske Racing president). Team manager Travis Geisler and crew chiefs Paul Wolfe (Keselowski) and Todd Gordon (Logano) also were present

Maybe, Tony can recover this week @ Dega?

On to DEGA....where just about anything can happen

Congratulations to Keelan's daddy

as the old man used to say = the worm will turn,,,,,, so i'm going with smoke#14 and the# 15 of clint bowyer tonight @Richmond,,,,it should be a good saturday night short track race,,, just hope it's another race like last night where the crews throw a few punchs along with the drivers,