Court dumps Charlotte Speedway’s lawsuit over $80M deal
A three-judge state Court of Appeals panel ruled unanimously that Speedway Motorsports Inc. and Charlotte Motor Speedway have no grounds to revive a lawsuit against Cabarrus County, where both companies are based. The ruling means the companies can't appeal further to the state Supreme Court, though the high court could still consider the case at its discretion.
Race track magnate Bruton Smith, who heads both companies, had threatened in 2007 to move the 135,000-seat speedway and build a new drag strip somewhere other than the Charlotte region without the tax breaks.
The 30,000-seat, four-lane zMax Dragway officially opened Aug. 20, 2008, just three weeks before its first scheduled race. But it wasn't until the following day that a proposed contract for tax breaks was put in writing. The track operator rejected those terms.
The companies argued they invested millions into the drag strip construction based on a Nov. 21, 2007, letter from the chairman of the county commissioners and the mayor of Concord, the city where the speedway is located. The officials said in their letter that they were committed to providing $80 million for road, pedestrian, utility and noise-reduction projects.
But that didn't equal an enforceable contract, the court said.
It's not clear if SMI – which owns the track and seven others in Georgia, Tennessee, California, Kentucky, Nevada, New Hampshire and Texas – has yet seen any of the $80 million announced in 2007. Spokesmen for the county and the speedway did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Concord was dropped from the lawsuit after agreeing to pay $2.8 million and getting land easements.
A lawyer for the speedway and SMI said the companies were considering their next move.
"We respectfully believe the court of appeals took a wrong turn," Charlotte attorney Preston Odom III said in an email. AP Story