SMI To Buy Part/All of Kentucky Speedway?

I’m getting whispers and rumors of a big announcement today…

Cup Scene Daily has the following note on their site:

Kentucky Speedway Could Be Getting Sprint Cup Race

Kentucky Speedway may finally be getting their wish.

They just may have to sell all or part of the Speedway to get it.

Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman and chief executive officer O. Bruton Smith is expected to make a ‘major announcement’ concerning the Speedway on Thursday.

Speculation from sources says that SMI has purchased either a major interest in the track or the entire facility and will move one of two dates from the recently purchased New Hampshire International Speedway to Kentucky.

I’m also hearing that there will be news around 1:30 eastern time, and that a station out of Cincinnati is going to say something about it.

UPDATE @ 12:50 AM Jayski has this item on his site:

Bruton to buy Kentucky? announcement Today? The future of Kentucky Speedway is expected to be addressed during a “major announcement” scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Concord, N.C. Sources close to the speedway confirmed to the Enquirer tonight [May 21st] that Kentucky Speedway officials have been in talks with Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman and chief executive officer O. Bruton Smith about selling or partnering with the Sparta track owned by Jerry Carroll and his partners. A spokesman with Lowe’s Motor Speedway, one of the seven tracks owned by SMI that hosts NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, indicated only that Thursday’s announcement would be of interest. The exact nature of the announcement is not immediately known, but it could include selling all or part of the speedway or partnering with Smith to bring a Sprint Cup race to the 1.5-mile track. Smith will make the announcement at 3pm/et Thursday in the media center at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Carroll was unavailable for comment Wednesday. News of a potential deal with SMI comes at the same time lawyers representing Kentucky Speedway continue to fight in 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the early January decision by a U.S. District Court judge to dismiss the track’s antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp.(Cincinnati Enquirer)(5-22-2008)

UPDATE @ 2:20PM I just received this press release FWIW:

MEDIA ADVISORY
Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Announcement Today

WHAT:
Major Announcement from Speedway Motorsports, Inc.

WHO:
SMI Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer O. Bruton Smith

WHEN:
Thursday, May 22
3:00 p.m. EDT

WHEN:
Time Warner Media Center Theater, Lowe’s Motor Speedway Coca-Cola
600 Weekend credentials required for access

UPDATE @ 2:35 PM Heather reports that a NBC affiliate in Louisville is reporting that the Kentucky Speedway was sold to SMI.

UPDATE @ 2:40 PM from Jayski:

The Kentucky Speedway in Sparta is being sold to one of professional auto racing’s biggest operators. Speedway Motorsports Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., and its founder and chairman Bruton Smith will announce at 3 p.m. that it is purchasing the speedway in a deal that is expected to close in October. Terms will not be announced but Kentucky Speedway Chairman and developer Jerry Carroll confirmed this morning that Smith plans to invest $50 million in the speedway and bring a coveted NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race to the Gallatin County track as early as 2009. “He wouldn’t be buying the track if he wasn’t going to bring a Sprint Cut race here,” said Carroll as he rode to the airport to take a charter flight to North Carolina for the announcement. Speculation is that Smith will move a Sprint Cup race from tracks he operates in Atlanta or New Hampshire. Track employees were informed of the sale during a 30-minute staff meeting held this morning at the track’s business offices in Fort Mitchell. The message from Carroll, track president Mark Simendinger and executive vice president and General Manager Mark Cassis was to continue operating as usual. The speedway employs about 30 people.(NKY.com)(5-22-2008)

This was compiled from information supplied by myself, weekend editor Heather Meyer and Mansfield correspondent Michael Phipps.