Bruton Smith, the owner of Speedway Motorsports, which includes Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has a "major announcement" in the works set for Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. XM Radio's Claire B. Lang reported on her "Dialed In" talk show earlier Thursday that the announcement will likely say that a deal has been made for Smith to purchase New Hampshire International Speedway, giving him ownership of seven tracks of the 23 NASCAR runs on every year.
Las Vegas should start getting excited because New Hampshire runs on two dates every season - one in July and the other as the first race for the Chase in September. Las Vegas only has one and Smith has made no secret of the fact he wants to get a second date there desperately. LVMS debuted a complete remodeling of the pit road and garage areas that debuted for the race weekend in March.
Heck, even I had a gut feeling something was brewing at that point.
Smith had a similar history of this when he purchased the track in Rockingham, N.C. That facility ran its last Cup race in 2004 and Texas got a second race as a result the following year.
I can't see New Hampshire closing its doors - the Cup weekends there pack the fans in at 90,000 strong - but Las Vegas holds around 160,000 people. The economic impact would be impressive in Vegas (as if it needed any more help), especially if a second Cup date there comes in around the Chase.
And Smith loves Las Vegas. Good for him. Good for race fans, too.
Viva Las Bruton. Here's to the possibilities.