CONCORD, N.C. -- Monday's news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway was less a news event and more an attempt to put the best face on a mistake -- a mistake that will cost city, county and state governments $80 million.

"I wouldn't call it a mistake," Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Smith said after the formal portion of the news conference, but his broad grin belied his amusement at the notion.

Smith affirmed that Lowe's Motor Speedway would remain in Concord, this time "forever," as he put it. An $80 million incentive package helped convince Smith not to relocate the speedway, as he had threatened to do after the Concord city council voted Oct. 1 to block construction of a drag strip Smith wanted to build on property adjacent to the speedway.

In the face of Smith's threat, the city council reversed itself. After more than a month of negotiations that involved city and county leaders, as well as North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, Smith announced Nov. 21 he would renovate LMS to the tune of $200 million -- and build the world's finest drag strip.

Concord and Cabarrus County each will contribute $30 million in incentives, and the state will kick in another $20 million.

Collectively, the incentives will go primarily toward road and highway improvements, as well as noise attenuation for the drag strip. Speedway Boulevard, the main artery that brings traffic to the speedway from Interstate 85, will be renamed Bruton Smith Boulevard.

Though Smith wouldn't go into detail about the improvements he plans to make at LMS, adding seats and luxury suites have been on the drawing board for the facility, which seats 162,000. Smith said a master plan has been in place for approximately 18 months. He added he would have proceeded with his plans had the drag strip snafu not occurred.

"We were working there for about three weeks before they decided to rezone," Smith said. "I was very disappointed at the rezoning. That's where the tricks started."

Smith smiled as Concord mayor Scott Padgett, Cabarrus County commission chairman Robert Carruth, Cabarrus Economic Development Corp. CEO John Cox and Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau president DeSales Wagster took turns extolling the virtues and positive economic impact of the speedway.

Cox, who urged everyone in attendance to accentuate the positive, revealed that two development projects in the vicinity of the racetrack, totaling $50 million, were back on track. Developers had placed the projects on hold while the fate of the speedway was in the balance. In addition, Cox said Concord and Cabarrus County henceforth will be billed as the "World's Racing Destination."

Though taxpayer money will be required to fund the incentives, Carruth stressed that the improvements in infrastructure will benefit all residents of the county.

Smith said he had fielded offers from 15 other potential locations, including two in South Carolina. Pressed on whether he ever really intended to relocate in the first place, Smith said:

"In the outset, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to build a speedway. I like to build things. I could see that here, we'd worn out our welcome -- I think I said that -- and I thought, well, it's time to go. So instead of spending the $200 million here, I could take $200 million plus another $150 million and start from scratch on a clean piece of paper."

Though Smith insisted he wasn't bluffing, the twinkle in his eye was enough to make you wonder. There was no need to wonder, however, about who had the upper hand in this high-stakes game.