Smith bluffs move of LMS in battle with city officials (cont'd)

He said that twice in the last two months he met with Padgett and other Concord officials to discuss his plans for the drag strip in detail.

"I told them exactly what I planned to do and everything, and there were no objections at all. They liked the idea," Smith said.

He said that six weeks ago he even had six Concord officials over to his office at his Town and Country Ford dealership in Charlotte to show them an architect's rendering of what was planned.

"They were excited about it and liked it," Smith said. "That was six weeks ago, so they knew all about what we were going to do."

He even claims that he had a grading permit that allowed him to begin preparing the land for construction of the strip. Grading commenced three weeks ago much to the apparent surprise of at least some city officials who obviously weren't in on the drag-strip information loop.

And that's why it caught Smith like a hard right to the jaw when Concord city council abruptly changed its zoning laws to exclude drag strips last Monday night.

"I'm just very concerned with this city over there because what's next? That's my main concern," Smith said. "If they're willing to sit there without any notice -- which is illegal -- and change our zoning, what are they going to do next? I've had people in my office and they're now concerned about the [Concord Regional] airport over there [from where many NASCAR teams and officials fly in and out]. Are they going to now legislate against the airport and say, 'Well, we don't want any more jets coming in and out of there?' Well, then that airport, as far as I'm concerned, will be doomed.

"They're acting like a runaway freight train, and I'm just very concerned about it."

It's amusing to hear Smith talk about someone else acting like a runaway freight train -- a description that no doubt has applied to him more than once or twice during his lifetime. And he surely went into public-relations spin overdrive when this feud erupted.

He went on local radio talk shows and told the local newspaper how he didn't feel appreciated, how he has given more than $5 million to various groups in Concord through Speedway Children's Charities, and how he even gave "a truckload of art to the old courthouse." Memo to King Bruton: It's not true charitable giving if you have to draw attention to yourself.

But this is what Smith does best when he figures the timing is right. He has done it time and time again throughout his charmed life, and he isn't about to quit now when he is in his 80s.

In 2003, when the Tennessee county that hosts Bristol Motor Speedway was considering raising money through an entertainment tax that would apply to race tickets, Smith threatened to pull his NASCAR races from that track and take them elsewhere. Sound familiar?

He eventually got the so-called powers-that-be from Sullivan County in Tennessee to back away from the idea, and the races stayed. It was a pure power play, and one well played by the king who truly held the trump cards.

In 2004, Smith got involved in a highly entertaining verbal brouhaha with Charlotte and Mecklenburg County leaders over some trees he cut down on his property near Lowe's Motor Speedway. He said they had given him permission to do so. The officials insisted they had not.

Smith cut down hundreds of trees anyway -- because he wanted to -- and dealt with the fallout from it afterward. It turned out to be rather minimal.

For years, Smith has amused followers of NASCAR by poking fun at the France family that runs the sport. His SMI tracks are the anti-thesis to the ones run by International Speedway Corp., the front for the Frances. And to be honest, on balance he appears to put more money into creative development and upgrades at his tracks --- and many of them, Lowe's Motor Speedway included, are about as good as it gets in this business. (Continued)