Home improvements unnecessary for all-star race

Sporting News, The, May 12, 2003 by Lee Spencer

Lowe's Motor Speedway is the rightful home of The Winston, NASCAR's all-star event, and the race should never move.

From the inaugural race in 1985 to Dale Earnhardt's 1987 "pass in the grass" to Ryan Newman's hard charge to the checkered flag last year, The Winston has become so deeply rooted in Charlotte that a move to any other track would dull its luster.

The Winston is synonymous with May Madness in Charlotte, just as the Bud Shootout is linked to Speedweeks at Daytona. What amplifies the buzz around The Winston is Lowe's status as the home track to the majority of the Winston Cup teams. The best drivers in Winston Cup racing compete for bragging rights in front of a crowd that includes family and friends.

I've heard the arguments for moving The Winston. There's a financial aspect; tracks would be willing to bid for the rights to the race but also likely would turn a nice profit. And there's no doubt moving The Winston from city to city--as is done with the baseball, basketball and hockey All-Star games--would create a stir in other NASCAR markets.

There's also a political consideration. The France family, which controls NASCAR, is at odds with Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports. A Texas Motor Speedway stockholder has filed suit against NASCAR seeking a second date for that track, which, like Lowe's Motor Speedway, is owned by Speedway Motorsports. Taking the Winston from Lowe's and moving it, at least in some years, to a track owned by International Speedway Corp., which is steered by the France family, would hurt Smith.

But the good of the sport and the enjoyment of the fans should not be sacrificed for the sake of money or petty politics. Charlotte's support underscores that point. It has an enviable record when it comes to filling the grandstands. According to Denny Darnell of Sports Marketing Enterprises for R.J. Reynolds, 144,000 fans saw The Winston in 2002. LMS has added 8,000 seats for the 2003 Winston, which is on May 17.

Adding seats is one item on a long list of improvements that H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway, has made in an attempt to make The Winston one of the premier events in all of sports. After the 1986 Winston was run in Atlanta, it returned to Charlotte in '87, and Wheeler and his superb marketing and public relations teams went to work. Much of what the event has become today is due to the diligence and creative genius of Wheeler and the late T. Wayne Robertson, the former president of Sports Marketing Enterprises. Wheeler and Robertson put The Winston under the lights in 1992, which helped raise the event's profile.

"The number of people Humpy puts in the stands is simply amazing," Darnell says. "I don't know how many other tracks could put on a show like that the week before their biggest race of the year (the Coca-Cola 600), but they have the staff to do it."

For years, LMS set the standard for other tracks, and that includes entertainment other than racing. One year a motorcyclist jumped through a ring of fire and cleared a dozen school buses. Another race featured a war scene reenactment, complete with tanks and paratroopers. To the delight of Charlotte fans, Wheeler has a penchant for blowing things up.

"He's done so much for motorsports and for helping to bring the thrill and the excitement--and to build the sport and build this speedway up," driver Mark Martin says of Wheeler. "I think this is the greatest racetrack that we race on for putting on a show."

Wheeler is adamant about keeping the race in Charlotte.

"(The Winston) isn't going anywhere because NASCAR is going to have to shoot me and drag my body down to Daytona and bury me right next to Bill France," he says.

Now that's dedication, similar to the way Wheeler challenges himself each year to outdo past extravaganzas.

There's no point in trying to fix something that isn't broken. Leave The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway. That's where it belongs--and everybody should know it.

All-Star crowds

               2002
Sport          attendance

Baseball        41,871
NBA             19,581
NFL             50,301
NHL             18,118
Total          129,871
The Winston    144,000

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Down the road

THE WINSTON

Lowe's Motor Speedway

When: 9 p.m. (ET) Saturday, May 17

TV: FX

Length: 90 laps, 135 miles

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Run with this:

Horsepower measurements specify the amount of engine power it takes to move 33,000 pounds one foot in a minute.

NASCAR's 61,000-square foot Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., opened January 2003, with top priority projects including soft wall development, composite seats and analysis of black box data,

M@il bonding

LEE SPENCER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

I believe winning races should be by the skill of the drivers and speed and endurance of the car. I think pit stops have become too important in the outcome of races. Would you like to see more credit for winning placed back in the driver's hands? I believe all pit stops should be made under green flags.