Speedway Motorsports boss Bruton Smith, one of the key players behind calls to re-align the current NASCAR Winston Cup calendar, has stated that if NASCAR gave him a concrete date on their fixture list, he would build an oval in New York.
Smith, whose Speedway Motorsports Incorporation owns the NWC venues in Atlanta, Bristol, Sears Point, Las Vegas, Charlotte and Texas, is currently at odds with the series' governing body over a proposed second date for the Texas Motor Speedway, made the claim on Tuesday night's ‘Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain' on
SPEED Channel.
“The former governor [of New York] approached me about buying the Meadowlands and that did get my interest,” Smith told Despain. “We would have to move the horse track somewhere else, and we did arrange all that. I had to have a copy of the lease the [New York] Giants (NFL) had - I had to have a look at that. It took about four months to be able to see the lease and I never could understand why it took so long. But when I got the lease, I understood, because the Giants have the right to say yes or no to anybody that comes in there. And that meant - oops - I don't think we can go there because they are not going to want us in there taking up their space.
"It can be made. If I had the date, yes I'd build one. I know where I'd build it – and please don't ask because I can't tell you - but I know where I'd build it. I was up there years ago and I was offered some property out on Long Island. I didn't know or understand Long Island, so I went up there and I found out there is no way you can build out there because the ingress-egress is terrible. At one point, I had an option on some land in Atlantic City, but that's a little too far. I wanted to build something where you could see Manhattan."
Although Smith still has legal issues with NASCAR over Texas' proposed second date, he believes more progress can be made now that Brian France is in charge of NASCAR.
