Bruton Smith dead at 95 – NASCAR track owner who founded Speedway Motorsports passes away
NASCAR Hall of Famer and track owner Bruton Smith has died at 95.
Smith's death was announced on Wednesday by Speedway Motorsports, the company he founded in 1994 that operates numerous tracks on the schedule.
His son, Marcus, the current president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, posted a tribute to his father on social media, saying: “I had a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. I am so thankful to be a dad, and to have an amazing dad.”
Along with the touching caption, Marcus shared two photos of his father, surrounded by his family.
An amateur racer during his teen days, Smith claims that he beat NASCAR legends Buck Baker and Joe Weatherly.
After his mother discouraged him from racing, Smith became an entrepreneur and promoted his first race at age 18.
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Smith would later be known as one of the visionaries behind NASCAR.
In 1994, he founded Speedway Motorsports, which owns eight NASCAR tracks that host twelve NASCAR Sprint Cup events.
Among the NASCAR tracks the company owns are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.
The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race is also held annually at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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He shook the motorsports world a year later when he took the company public and traded it on the New York Stock Exchange.
Speedway Motorsports was the first motorsports company traded on the NYSE.
Smith founded Sonic Automotive, a group of 100 car dealerships across the US.
He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2016.
