Miami … “a God-forsaken area.”
Monday, March 9th, 2009NASCAR Shop Opinion:
Track owner Bruton Smith is lobbying NASCAR to move its final race of the season from South Florida. He would prefer the final race to be in Atlanta or Las Vegas.
In quotes reported widely on the Internet, Smith was not kind to the Homestead Miami Speedway. “Why have the last race of the season at some Godforsaken area just north of Cuba?,” Bruton said. “Why would you do that? I don’t understand that. Why don’t you pick a place that can accommodate the final race of the year with seats and parking and somewhere that appreciates it?”
Bruton Smith continued, “Home-in-stead is now running that final race,” Smith said. “They don’t have the seating, they don’t have this, they don’t have parking. And the event should be held somewhere else. There’s an idea, let’s maybe hold that final race in Las Vegas.”
Smith is the founder, chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, which owns eight NASCAR tracks, hosting eleven NASCAR Sprint events. It’s no coincidence that Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of the tracks that he thinks the final NASCAR race should be moved to.
Sure, he has a point; Vegas could host more fans. Las Vegas Motor Speedway has a far larger capacity (142,000) compared to the Homestead Miami Speedway (65,000). But trashing an entire metropolitan area in order to push forward his own greedy agenda is way over the top.
Homestead Miami Speedway president, Curtis Gray, responded with the following statement. “Hey, it’s not a fluke that all of North America’s premier racing series [NASCAR, IndyCar and Grand-Am] have chosen Homestead-Miami Speedway and South Florida to host their 2009 championship finales,” Gray’s released statement read. “And because we’re a diverse, fun-loving and even forgiving motorsports bunch down here in Miami, Bruton’s still welcome to join the party this fall.”
I don’t know about that Curtis. I’d think twice about heading to South Beach if I were Bruton Smith. If he does take Gray up on his invitation, he better stay away from the Cuban sandwiches!
NASCAR News Quote of the Day: “If I only had a little humility, I’d be perfect.” – Ted Turner
Two new categories to the 
Known as everything from bag toss, bean bag toss, corn toss, to even cornhole toss, this populr barbeque and tailgate activity is played all around the country. NASCAR fans especially love the game.