Smith, SMI in negotiations to build race tracks in Qatar

Bruton Smith is looking to expand his race-track empire.

And this time, he is looking to royalty overseas to do it -- or rather, royalty first came looking for him.

Qatar is located in the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

Smith, chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., is in negotiations to build three race tracks in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. It is not clear yet if Smith and SMI would assist in ownership and/or operation of the facilities, or simply construct them and hand over the keys to the Emir of Qatar and his royal family, but Smith said Friday that he hopes to have all the details worked out soon, perhaps within another week.

Smith said he was approached about construction of the tracks by the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani -- and not the other way around. The Emir was in the international news recently for reportedly offering 400 million euros to purchase the former Elysee Palace Hotel in Paris.

The Emir is said to be a great fan of all forms of auto racing, and several of his representatives met late last week with Smith and his associates to put the finishing touches on an agreement to have SMI build the three tracks in Qatar. That didn't quite come to pass, but Smith said the two parties are moving closer toward finalizing everything so construction can begin.

"We had a great, great meeting. We'll be talking again this coming week," said Smith, speaking from Texas Motor Speedway, one of eight tracks SMI owns where NASCAR events are run. "We've already designed the speedways, and they like the design and all. But they've formed a committee and now it's got to go to a committee and all that kind of stuff, so it's not where I would like it.

"I thought we would be a little bit further down the road with it than we are right now, but we're working on it diligently. We'll get there."

Qatar (pronounced KA-tar) is a small, oil- and gas-rich nation located on the Qatari peninsula, just 100 miles north into the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia. The entire country's land mass is smaller than the state of Massachusetts. (Continued)