Bruton Smith, the founder of Speedway Motorsports and the developer of Charlotte Motor Speedway, passed away on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, of natural causes. He was 95.
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In 1949, Smith took over the National Stock Car Racing Association (NSCRA), one of several fledgling stock-car sanctioning bodies and a direct competitor to the newly formed NASCAR.
Smith built Charlotte Motor Speedway for $1.5 million in 1959, with help from his rich brother-in-law. Curtis Turner, a racer, assisted with track promotion.
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Later, he established Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI), which owns eight NASCAR tracks and hosts twelve NASCAR Sprint Cup races. Smith supported child-related causes with his charity Speedway Children’s Charities.
On January 23, 2016, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He was placed #207 on the Forbes 400 list in 2005, with an estimated wealth of $1.5 billion, then dropped to #278 with an estimated $1.4 billion in 2006.
In 2007, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Smith was named the Fortune 500’s oldest CEO in 2012 by CNN Money.
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