SMI buys NHIS for $340M

Speedway Motorsports, Inc. has agreed to purchase New Hampshire International Speedway from Bob and Gary Bahre for $340 million in cash. The agreement was announced today by O. Bruton Smith, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.

To align with other SMI-owned speedway brands, the track will be renamed New Hampshire Motor Speedway following completion of the acquisition.

The speedway, which opened in 1990 and hosts two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events each year, is located about one hour north of Boston in Loudon, N.H. According to the latest census numbers, the population within 200 miles of the speedway is more than 18 million people. The venue is easily accessible via Interstate highways from all metro areas in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada.

Located on approximately 1,100 acres, the multi-use complex is the largest sports facility in New England and features a 1.058-mile oval speedway, with chair-back seating for 92,000 spectators, and a 1.6-mile road course.

The speedway hosts the only NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events held in the six-state New England region. Both NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races regularly sell out and exceed the NFL Super Bowl in attendance.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our company to grow our business as we continue to invest in this sport and the motorsports industry," said Smith.

Smith added that he has offered Bob Bahre the opportunity to remain associated as a consultant with the track that he built.

In addition to the major NASCAR races, the track hosts several regional professional racing series, including the NASCAR Grand National Division, NASCAR Busch East Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Amateur series events complete the schedule with SCCA sports cars, motorcycles, World Karting Association go-karts and racing schools.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway will join a strong Portfolio of SMI facilities. The company also owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.; Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.; and Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas.

With this acquisition, the company will own race tracks in the West, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest, including four of the nation’s top-10 metropolitan markets.

The breakdown includes: the sixth-largest market (Infineon/San Francisco); the fifth-largest market (Texas/Dallas-Ft. Worth); the seventh-largest market (New Hampshire/Boston); the ninth-largest market (Atlanta); the 25th-largest market (Lowe’s/Charlotte); the 41st-largest market (Las Vegas); and the 92nd-largest market (Bristol/Tri-Cities).

Speedway Motorsports, Inc. will promote 13 NASCAR-sanctioned Sprint (formerly NEXTEL) Cup races in 2008 and nine NASCAR-sanctioned Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series events. Combined seating for the seven SMI facilities will exceed 850,000 permanent seats.