Smith claims "done deal" report on track move is wrong

   The following is a statement from Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, O. Bruton Smith:

“The ‘done deal’ report by WBTV regarding moving a race is false. No final decision has been made regarding any race date move, and I have not discussed this with NASCAR. 

   “Instead of what ‘could’ happen, let’s set the facts straight about what has happened. We’ve invested $100 million in the Charlotte Motor Speedway complex in the past six years to make it even better for the fans. We’ve expanded our fan zone, added pit road suites and built the world’s largest HDTV for every fan to enjoy. We’ve put more people to work with these projects and we’ve added more events to the calendar to bring in more tourists and fans. And we’ve done this during the worst economy since the Great Depression. 

   “We’ve done this without asking for a handout from the government, like we’ve seen from so many other sports facilities, teams or franchises, and yet at the same time property values are falling during the recession, our Cabarrus County taxes have doubled since 2005. We absolutely love the fans that come to Charlotte Motor Speedway. It’s frustrating to think about the future and consider that the local government doesn’t share the same excitement about Charlotte Motor Speedway that our fans do. The Cabarrus County politicians may say nice things to the media, but raising taxes does not support the tourism business, the area economy or companies trying to grow.”

Michael Annett finally cleared to race

 

   After being sidelined for eight races, Michael Annett will return to the driver's seat of the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford this weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway for Saturday's History 300 Nationwide Series event.

   Annett was medically cleared Tuesday after suffering a broken and dislocated sternum after an accident in the season-opening Nationwide Series event at Daytona International Speedway in February.

   The Nationwide series regular underwent surgery for his injuries after the accident and has been sidelined for three months to allow his injuries to heal. Annett has been preparing for his return by participating in physical therapy over the last three weeks. Doctors, along with NASCAR officials, determined he was cleared to drive following an MRI on Monday afternoon.

Greg Biffle: "I highly doubt" Charlotte will lose a NASCAR race

   NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Greg Biffle took part in a teleconference on Tuesday and was asked about track owner Bruton Smith's claim there was a 70 percent chance he would move Charlotte Motor Speedway's fall Cup series date to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the near future.

   Here was Biffle's response:

    "I highly doubt whether we see that race move to a different location. There's a lot of people that come to that race. Let's face it, it's a business decision a lot of times. You make business decisions on the amount of people or fans or people you can attract to a particular race," Biffle said. "If your race is well‑attended, I don't see any reason for moving it.  Obviously, if we're running all the races, we're not going to be going out and doing all the stuff to try to change our cars.

   "That's the way I perceive it. I'm an entrepreneur, business type of guy. I see the grandstands fairly full when it comes to our two Charlotte races, a lot of attendance. I don't know all the behind‑the‑scenes stuff.

   "Frankly, we'll race wherever the race is at. I like both of the race tracks. I would like to see it stay in Charlotte. If it goes to Vegas, then I suppose we have to race there."

Bruton Smith considers moving a Charlotte NASCAR race to Las Vegas

   By Jim Utter
   jutter@charlotteobserver.com

   Charlotte Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith says Charlotte might may be on its way to losing one of its two prized spots on the schedule for NASCAR’s premier Sprint Cup Series schedule.

   During  In an interview Monday with WBTV on Monday, Smith said there was a 70 percent chance he would move the October NASCAR race weekend at CMS to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

   Smith’s Speedway Motorsports Inc. owns both facilities. Las Vegas currently hosts one Cup series race each March.

   “When the game is over, it’ll be money, money, money. Money will move it,” Smith told WBTV. “I’d say (the chances) are about 70/30.”

   CMS spokesman Scott Cooper said he could not comment on race dates and locations.

   “What I can say is that our team at the speedway is laser-focused on making this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 the very best in our long history. The speedway generates a $420 million dollar economic impact annually to the region, and most of it occurs right now,” he said.

   “We’re looking forward to putting thousands of people to work this week and entertaining 100,000 plus race fans on Sunday with our Southern hospitality.”

   Asked to comment on Smith’s interview, Jeff Motley, the Las Vegas track’s vice president of public relations, said he would defer to Smith.

   NASCAR said it has received no formal request from SMI to move one of its races to another one of its tracks.

   “Tracks have the ability to request re-alignment,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing operations. “We review and always decide based on the best interest of the entire sport of NASCAR.

   “We’re beginning the 2014 process now, and have not had any formal requests to re-align.”

   Former SMI president H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler said the moving of a CMS race date would not only be a great loss to Charlotte but also to the South.

   “I don’t know what else could occur to disappoint the Southern race fan that has brought us to where we are,” he said. “They lost North Wilkesboro, Rockingham and half of Darlington.

   “It would also be a great loss for Charlotte Motor Speedway and this area.”

   Las Vegas Motor Speedway also hosted an IndyCar Series race during in 2011, but the race was pulled from the 2012 schedule after a 15-car wreck resulted in the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.

NASCAR: Enough with the gimmicks

   Enough with the gimmicks already. The latest gimmick employed in the NASCAR All-Star Race this year was to use the average finish of drivers’ first four segments to determine how they would enter pit road for their mandatory pit stop before the final 10-lap segment.

   The goal was laudable – provide incentive for drivers to race hard every segment. The problem was no one in the stands – and then apparently on the Speed broadcast – had access to the information necessary to tell the outcome of that tabulation. Incorrect information on the TV broadcast left many thinking eventual Jimmie Johnson somehow “cheated” in winning the final segment and $1 million.

   One of the reasons NASCAR has said it doesn’t take away wins as penalties is that fans should know the winner of the race when they leave the track. Well, they should also know the rules – and have access to the correct results. If you run a race with rules than leaves fans screaming of conspiracy, then the rules are too complicated.

   Here’s an idea: Perhaps the all-star race can return to it was intended and that would a showcase of the best drivers in NASCAR doing what they do best – race.

Obituary for retired NASCAR driver Dick Trickle

The following obituary was posted on the Web site for Warlick Funeral Home:

Richard Trickle

(October 27, 1941 - May 16, 2013 )

 

Richard “Dick” Trickle, age 71, of Iron Station, NC died of a self-inflicted gunshot.  He had been suffering for some time with severe chronic pain, had seen many doctors, none of which could find the source of his pain.  His family as well as all those who knew him, find his death very hard to accept, and though we will hurt from losing him for some time, he’s no longer suffering and we take comfort knowing he’s with his very special angel. 

 

He is survived by his wife Darlene (McMahon)Trickle, three children Victoria Bowman (John), Tod Trickle, and Chad Trickle (Shannon), and 3 grandchildren, Lucas Bowman, Courtney Trickle and Carlee Trickle.  He lost his oldest grandchild Nicole Bowman in a tragic car accident nearly 12 years ago.  He was the son of the late Leo and Lauretta Trickle and is survived by his brothers Duaine Trickle, Charles Trickle and sisters Delores Iwanski, and Susan Trickle. 

 

Dick’s passion in life was his racing.  He touched many lives throughout his career, provided memories for many that will last a lifetime. Many thought when he retired he would continue as a car owner, but he was driver at heart, he wanted to be behind the wheel and be in control of his destiny.   We believe he felt himself no longer able to be behind that wheel of life or be the man he only knew how to be because of the pain and suffering. 

 

His passion was racing but his love was his family.  This is a very difficult time for the family, they hope everyone will understand and respect their wishes to have private services for his funeral.  They appreciate all the calls, messages, and letters of support, but at this time need to be together as a family. 

 

There have been requests for where to send flowers, in lieu of flowers the family has asked that a donation be made in Memory of Dick to: Victory Junction, 4500 Adams Way, Randleman, NC  27317.  They thank you for all your love, thoughts, and prayers.

Kyle Busch talks about his battle with Kasey Kahne at Darlington

  Kyle Busch talked Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the first time since he came up short in last Saturday night's Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Busch and Kasey Kahne raced hard for the lead until Kahne slapped the wall. Matt Kenseth then passed Busch for the win with 12 laps to go.

   Busch left the track without comment but was asked Friday how he would race Khane.    Here was his response:

   "You race him (Kasey Kahne) just has hard as you race him any other week. The first two instances were a mistake, just misjudgment. Kasey admitted it, he had to get on the brakes in Daytona and checked up a little bit and I ran over him. You couldn't really see through the cars in front of you to see what was happening. Daytona I just misjudged, I wanted to pull
out and thought last second that I was going to stay in line and push Kasey. I turned him sideways when I was coming back in line. Last week was just hard racing. You're in the last three laps and you're past the last pit stop and it's all about track position. For us, we were racing as hard as we could.  He pulled a huge slide job on me in turn three and I got back to his inside and I had been running down there on the flat all night and had been passing lapped cars down there and some of my restarts were even that low on the race track. I didn't think there was going to be a problem and when I got down there I just got tight and pushed up a little bit. Whether or not we touched, I think that's insignificant because I'm not racing to wreck Kasey Kahne, but Kasey Kahne did crash because of me so it's a part of hard racing at the end of the race and I hate that it keeps being the same guy, but if it were a Matt Kenseth on a Tony Stewart we probably wouldn't see a story," Busch said.

   Have the incidents occurred with Kasey Kahne due to both of you racing up front?
   Busch: "It's got some merit to it sure. Being up front racing with a guy, Kasey (Kahne), he won Bristol and I think we finished second to him there and then obviously he ran well at Vegas and he ran well at Kansas. We were up front at Vegas with him and running well there, but you run up front and you try for wins in the last 30 laps and you have to give it everything you've got. You're not there to rollover and let a guy go. Even the Darlington piece, if I would have let him go, I don't know that I could have got back by him. It was a little difficult to pass and he did seem to have a good car on the long runs so I knew that protecting my spot was what I needed to do at that particular point. Racing up front, racing hard I'm sure there would be a moment where it could come back on me and I expect it, it's fine. I just told Kasey, I said, 'Just don't make it hurt too bad.'"