Las Vegas closer to getting a second NASCAR Cup race?
“It never was available; it never will be available," said Mattioli, who owns the track with her husband, Joseph. “My husband has stated that over and again. That’s it."
Mattioli said that Pocono Raceway was entrusted to their grandchildren and they will continue to help run the 2 1/2 -mile triangle track.
Speedway Motorsports Inc. purchased Kentucky Speedway last week and there was speculation SMI owner Bruton Smith had his eye on Pocono. If he bought that track, he could have moved one or both its dates to any of his speedways.
“They’re always looking here," she said. “We get phone calls all the time."
The 81-year-old Smith told the AP he had not spoken with the Mattiolis about purchasing the track, which is outside New York City and Philadelphia.
Joseph Mattioli, the Pocono Raceway board chairman, brought NASCAR to the Poconos over a plate of fried chicken with Bill France in 1972.
In the mid-1970s, when the CART-USAC fight helped cause financial problems at the track, Mattioli wanted to sell until he received a call from France Sr. The two met in New York and France persuaded Mattioli to ride out the downturn and keep the track.
Rose Mattioli said she hoped there was NASCAR racing on the mountaintop for “as long as my husband and I live, as long as our grandkids live." AP Article
05/26/08 This Winston Salem Journal article dismisses the idea that Bruton Smith could buy Pocono Raceway.
05/23/08 Bruton Smith’s announcement today that he has added Kentucky Speedway to his Speedway Motorsports Inc. portfolio might be the first move in what could lead to Las Vegas Motor Speedway landing a second annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
The hot rumor sweeping NASCAR Nation today has Smith also purchasing Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., closing the 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track and moving one of its Cup dates to Kentucky Speedway and the other to LVMS.
Smith has been seeking a second annual Cup race for LVMS since he purchased the facility in 1998. NASCAR officials repeatedly have said they would not award the track another race but that Smith could move a date from one of his other tracks if he wished.
Kentucky Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval in Sparta, currently hosts a NASCAR Nationwide Series race and a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Smith isn’t in the habit of purchasing tracks that don’t host a NASCAR Cup race.
Smith has been rumored to have had his eye on Pocono Raceway for at least the past 10 years but hasn’t been able to come to terms with the Mattioli family, which owns the track. Las Vegas Sun