Speedway Motorsports

Speedway Motorsports, LLC is an American company that owns and manages auto racing facilities that host races sanctioned by NASCAR, NHRA, World of Outlaws and other racing series. The company was founded by Bruton Smith and has its headquarters at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in Concord, North Carolina, just north of Charlotte. Speedway Motorsports owns nine racing facilities with a combined seating capacity of approximately 885,000. In addition to operating racetracks, Speedway Motorsports owns Performance Racing Network (PRN), U.S. Legend Cars International, and co-owns Motorsports Authentics. As of 2026, they own the second most racetracks used by NASCAR behind only NASCAR itself.[1]

After trading for 25 years on the New York Stock Exchange, where it was known as Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI), the company was taken private in September 2019, and today is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonic Financial Corporation, itself owned by members of Bruton Smith's family. The "SMI" initialism is still sometimes used colloquially.

History

Early history and founding

Notable purchases

SMI has a history of purchasing tracks to obtain NASCAR race dates. The company's purchases and closures of the tracks in order to obtain a second NASCAR date for Texas Motor Speedway led to the Ferko lawsuit.

North Wilkesboro Speedway

In 1996, the company purchased half interest in North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina along with Bob Bahre of New Hampshire International Speedway (now New Hampshire Motor Speedway). SMI moved one of North Wilkesboro Speedway's dates to Texas Motor Speedway and Bob Bahre moved the second date to his facility. On November 2, 2007, SMI purchased NHIS and part of the purchase resulted in SMI gaining full ownership of North Wilkesboro Speedway.[7]

North Carolina Speedway

In 2004, as a result of the Ferko lawsuit, SMI gained ownership of the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. SMI closed North Carolina Speedway and moved the track's final race date to Texas Motor Speedway. On October 2, 2007, SMI sold North Carolina Speedway at auction. The track was purchased by "Indiana" Andy Hillenburg for $4.4 million, and renamed Rockingham Speedway.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

On November 2, 2007, SMI announced the purchase of New Hampshire International Speedway from Bob Bahre, and renamed the facility New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This has led to speculation that SMI would move one of New Hampshire's dates to Las Vegas Motor Speedway and/or swap the date with the fall race at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS has expressed an interest in moving the fall race away from the first weekend in November, which is also the opening weekend of deer hunting season in Texas). In 2018, the fall race weekend was moved to Las Vegas.

Kentucky Speedway

On May 22, 2008, SMI announced it had purchased Kentucky Speedway from Kentucky Speedway, LLC. The track had been trying to secure a NASCAR Sprint Cup race for several years.[8] SMI was finally victorious in their pursuit, with Kentucky Speedway receiving its inaugural Sprint Cup race on July 9, 2011.[9] It appears this came at the expense of SMI-owned Atlanta Motor Speedway, which dropped from two races to one on the 2011 Sprint Cup schedule.[10] It was announced in September 2020 that Kentucky Speedway would not return for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and its date would be given back to Atlanta Motor Speedway.[11]

Dover Motorsports

Dover Motorsports, Inc. (formerly Dover Downs Entertainment) was a company that owned several auto racing circuits in the United States. The company was based in Dover, Delaware, the home of its flagship track Dover International Speedway, a 1 mi concrete oval with a seating capacity of 95,500 that opened in 1969. The company formerly owned the Dover Downs harness racing track adjacent to the Dover speedway. Dover Motorsports also operated Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.333-mile concrete oval track in Lebanon, Tennessee.

Dover Motorsports owned Memphis Motorsports Park, a 0.75-mile tri-oval asphalt short track in Millington, Tennessee, but closed the track in October 2009 to competition. It was later sold to Palm Beach International Raceway after sitting unused for over a year. Dover also owned Gateway International Raceway, a 1.25-mile egg-shaped asphalt oval track in Madison, Illinois, which was sold in 2011. After attempts to sell Nashville Superspeedway, the venue reopened in 2021 and hosted a NASCAR race weekend, replacing one of the race weekends at Dover International Speedway.[12]

On November 8, 2021, Speedway Motorsports announced that it had agreed to purchase Dover Motorsports, owner of Dover International Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway at the time, for $3.61 per share in cash for an approximate total equity value of $131.5 million.

type	Private
foundation	1994
location	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
key people	Bruton Smith, founder Marcus G. Smith, President and CEO
num employees	793 (full time)
industry	Motorsports
revenue	$570 million USD
products	Motorsport venues Legends cars
homepage

Speedway Motorsports

History

Early history and founding

Formation and public offering

Expansion and track acquisitions

Competition with ISC and strategic growth

Recent developments and partnerships

Facilities owned