FORT WORTH, Texas — The loss of racing baron Bruton Smith had a dramatic impact on Texas Motor Speedway and on Fort Worth.
Smith, who died in June of this year at the age of 95, brought NASCAR to Fort Worth and built TMS, which opened in 1996.
Had Smith been alive, and active, it’s doubtful NASCAR would have announced its 2023 schedule that features only one race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Had Eddie Gossage still been the GM at TMS, it’s equally doubtful NASCAR would have done this.
It’s the first time NASCAR will come to TMS one time a year since 2004.
The 2023 NASCAR date at TMS will be a Cup series playoff race on Sept. 24.
TMS officials said they are confident that NASCAR will return to Texas Motor Speedway for two races in 2024.
Losing a NASCAR date is a small hit for Fort Worth’s tourism economy, but is consistent with the path TMS is trying desperately to reverse.
In this era of sports, we may be a one-race market.
Why Texas Motor Speedway lost a second NASCAR race
NASCAR’s schedule announcement could be indicative of the now fluid nature of NASCAR, which is trying everything from different tracks to bounce houses to concerts to lure fans and viewers.
The announcement could be indicative of the changes at TMS, both in management, to the track itself, and trends in attendance.
Or, the announcement could be indicative of the upcoming 75th anniversary of NASCAR and the organization’s desire to hold a race in North Carolina.
The NASCAR Cup Series All-Star race was at TMS in 2021 and 2022.
The event will be run in 2023 at North Wilksboro Speedway in North Carolina.
The last NASCAR race at that track was in 1996; the facility had been dormant for years after NASCAR moved away from smaller tracks to super speedways, such as Las Vegas, Texas, etc.
North Wilksboro Speedway is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which also owns TMS.
NASCAR drivers, notably the retired Dale Earnhardt Jr., and a load of influential NASCAR enthusiasts have pined for the sport to return to tracks such as North Wilksboro.
Those are the tracks NASCAR wanted to move out of, to make more money at the bigger speedways that were being built all over the country.
Now, most of those tracks are too big.
NASCAR’s first races at TMS, which started in 1997, drew crowds in excess of 150,000. The infield was packed, and the pre-night party scene was mythic.
As a result of the interest, and sales, Gossage repeatedly lobbied NASCAR for a second race.
NASCAR fan Francis Ferko famously sued both NASCAR and International Speedway Corp., which owned TMS, so that second race would be held in Fort Worth.
The parties settled the lawsuit in 2004, and starting in 2005 NASCAR came to Texas twice a season.
In the last 10 years, however, attendance at NASCAR events has slowly decreased at TMS, and all over the U.S. The overall popularity of the sport is nowhere near what it was around 2000.
TMS officials have removed large sections of the grandstands, a trend throughout the bigger speedways all over the country.
New TMS vice president and general manager Mark Faber said this week the grandstands currently hold about 46,000, with more available in the infield.
To keep fans interested, TMS installed “Big Hoss TV” in 2013, along the backstretch.
It has also invested in other amenities for fans, including a giant “Belly up Bar,” and three new concourse open air bars.
Sources said one of the reasons NASCAR is moving its All-Star race out of TMS were the poor crowds at the last two events, and the bad visuals it created for the television broadcasts.
A crowd of 60,000 or so looks sparse at TMS.
When the All-Star race runs at North Wilksboro, which features a seating capacity of 40,000, it will be full, and look packed.
Another potential reason for moving the race are the unofficial results of the TMS track reconfiguration done in 2017.
The results led to more one-groove racing. The initial response and results to NASCAR’s “Next Gen” cars running at TMS earlier this season, during the All-Star race, were less than glowing.
TMS officials are hopeful that the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race scheduled for Sept. 25 will produce the type of racing, and specifically passing, that fans want to watch.
If the race is another follow-the-leader parade race, don’t be surprised if TMS reconfigures the track again.
Effect of TMS change in leadership
The other change at TMS that had an inevitable effect was the change in leadership.
In the last few years before he died, Bruton Smith was understandably no longer involved in the operations of his company.
It is operated more now by Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Marcus Smith.
The departure of Gossage, who retired after the 2021 season, was going to have an effect on TMS. Gossage was an old-school NASCAR promoter and salesman.
Gossage was initially replaced as track GM by Rob Ramage, who been with the company since 2013. His background was mostly in finance and general counsel than promoting.
Two weeks ago, TMS introduced Faber as the executive VP and GM. Faber has a long resume working in sports branding and sports promotions.
It’s clear his task is to try to return TMS to its standing with NASCAR, and Indy Car, at least.
“The whole sports and entertainment world is going through ‘De-couching’ — how do we get you out of your family room or media room to the venue?” Faber said this week. “I don’t think the interest in NASCAR is declining, but what we have found is in markets like this there is a lot of competition for people’s time.”
Crowds for the Indy Car races at TMS have slowly decreased over the years, which is consistent for that series other than the Indianapolis 500. The crowd for the Indy Car race at TMS in 2021 looked to be no more than 20,000.
There had been talk, for years, that Indy Car no longer wanted to run at TMS.
Just talk. TMS officials said it has reached a multi-year agreement with Indy Car to remain on the schedule, starting in 2023.
The job now is to entice NASCAR to run TMS twice again, or accept the reality that we now just be a one-race market.
