Smith wants controversy

BY ALLEN GREGORY
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

CONCORD, N.C. – No discussion with Bruton Smith is ever dull.

The powerful chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. is more than willing to offer his suggestions on how to improve the sport of NASCAR, on and off the track.

While armies of public relations handlers and corporate types would surely faint over the idea, Smith called for some old-school controversy this week during the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“If Jimmie Johnson would just get out of a race car and slap somebody, I would like that,” Smith said, referring to the three-time Sprint Cup champion. “We’ve got to have that, something to make the headlines in the sports pages.”

Smith is no different than many fans in that he appears to have grown weary of the bland interviews and a conservative style of racing.

“I think the racing world has grown a little bit tired of the vanilla,” Smith said. “We need to mix it up a little bit, and I’m hoping we’ll see more of that.”

Smith said he’d also like to see more outreach to fans. While that proposal might not be popular with the world-weary Sprint Cup stars, to Smith it’s a vital part of the NASCAR race-day experience.

“Drivers, track owners, general managers ... we all have our obligations to the fans,” Smith said. “Drivers are the best way to connect. This idea of running and hiding from autograph sessions, I don’t like it.

“Maybe NASCAR should look at something like, if a track holds two hours for autographs and a driver is scheduled to appear for an hour and doesn’t show up, take 15 percent of his total winnings that week. Maybe that would get their attention and give them a reason to be there.”

Prodded by the marketing experts from R.J. Reynolds tobacco company, NASCAR drivers once arrived in town days before races to visit media outlets, to meet with fans and to promote events.

Thanks in large part to multi-million-dollar salaries, those promotional pushes by drivers have all but vanished.

“Drivers are making more money today than they’ve ever made and ever thought they would make,” Smith said. “That’s the difference.

“[Drivers] know they don’t have to do certain things. And if they don’t want to do it, they don’t do it.”

Smith, who has earned fame for his promotional skills, hopes that the leadership of the sport will somehow bridge the widening gap between the stars and the fans.

“I think we have to rely on NASCAR, and I’m hoping that NASCAR will do something,” Smith said. “We’ve got to get these drivers more involved with fans.

“The fans want to talk to the drivers, they want autographs. We’ve got to get back to that fan-friendly approach we talk about all the time.”

Smith’s son, Marcus, the president and general manager of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, said his track already has plans to reach out to the most loyal members of the racing community.

“We are going to do everything we can to bring the garage to the fans,” Marcus Smith said.

“We are going to have more opportunities for interaction with the stars of the sport, and we are going to provide opportunities for the fans to get into areas they haven’t been into before.”

Eddie Gossage, president and general manager of Texas Motor Speedway, is taking another approach to the fan outreach.

“In this time when everybody is giving bailouts to banks and mortgage companies, we asked ourselves, who’s truly giving a bailout to ‘Joe the fan?’ We decide we’re going to do that,” Gossage said.

“We’ve eliminated 21,000 seats. We believe that increases the value of the remaining seats. We’ve taken all our backstretch seats that remain and the price there on the backstretch is now $20 for a reserved seat and $40 for the upper rows. I don’t know anyone else in sports that’s doing that kind of thing.”

Meanwhile, Bristol Motor Speedway Jeff Byrd revealed plans Monday for a fan forum type before the upcoming Food City 500 race weekend where fans can interact with drivers.

“We’re beginning to pay the price from something that’s been going on for some time – the corporalization of our sport,” Gossage said.

“This is a sport for the people and by the people, and I think drivers lost sight of that for a while. But I think they’re beginning to get it back.”

agregory@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2544