NASCAR: SMI announces executive promotions in Nashville

Speedway Motorsports, which owns Nashville Superspeedway and is trying to bring a NASCAR Cup Series race to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, announced the promotion of two veteran staff members Friday.

Mike Burch was named the company’s chief operating officer and Jerry Caldwell was named president of Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Mike Burch and Jerry Caldwell are dedicated leaders who search every day for innovative ways we can serve our fans, partners and employees,” Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith said in a release. “We are proud to have Mike and Jerry on our executive leadership team and thankful not only for their past successes but for their continued hard work to elevate the profile and performance of Speedway Motorsports.”

Burch, who joined Charlotte North Carolina-based Speedway Motorsports in 2003, most recently served as chief strategy officer, and has held positions of senior vice president of national sales and marketing and manager of business development.

Earlier in his career, Burch worked with several NBA teams, including the Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets, where he served as vice president of marketing from 2000-02.

“Mike has been an integral part of our organization and a key architect of how we’ve pulled our facilities and staff together as a more cohesive company,” Smith added. “He aggressively stays on top of trends in sports business and management to better support our stakeholders, while also serving as a key strategist and liaison with NASCAR in development of the annual event schedule.”