Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 54

Star-Telegram I Saturday May 15 2004 10D wwwstar-telegranicom MOTORSPORTS The case is over now for the ripple effects Settlement highlights Ferko v' NASCAR is history but the impact will last for years to come with ISC tracks ISC and NASCAR are owned by the France family Darlington (SC) Raceway lost one of its two dates and saw its remaining date transferred to May 7 the day before Day Phoenix International Raceway will host two Cup races an April 23 night race and the 35th of 36 races California Speedway will host the second race of the season Feb 27 a week after the Daytona 500 ISC stand still making two moves: Martinsville (Va) Speedway partly owned by the France family will be purchased outright for $192 million Nazareth (Pa) Speedway which hosts NASCAR Busch Series and Indy Racing League By JEFF WILSON STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER Case No will never be as famous in NASCAR circles as 8 and 24 and the name Francis Ferko will never replace Earnhardt and Gordon But the lawsuit that produced a second Nextel Cup date for Texas Motor Speedway and the Plano resident who filed it are sure to hover over the sport the city of Fort Worth and Texas Motor Speedway for several years are very confident that this settlement is in the best interests of TMS SMI NASCAR all the parties Ferko attorney Samuel A Cherry Jr said is a win-win situation for The much-anticipated settlement filed Friday at US NASCAR will sanction two races at Texas Motor Speedway in 2005 Speedway Motorsports Inc will purchase North Carolina Speedway from co-defendant International Speedway Corp for $1004 million SMI will pay $118 million in to have what we determined to be a promise satisfied That is TMS would receive a second Cup Cherry said have achieved that albeit in a circuitous way but we have achieved that And as a result of the litigation we were able to acquire an asset of ISC that never would have been Though the lawsuit only mentions two races in 2005 Cherry said TMS will have NOTES Second IRL race now in jeopardy legal fees for plaintiffs Francis Ferko and Russell Vaughn The plaintiffs have agreed to dismiss the suit with prejudice and cannot refile the lawsuit SMI cannot seek payment for legal fees from NASCAR ISC or the France Family Group two dates for years to come the way their business is Cherry said at least within the last 25 years has NASCAR ever pulled a race date unless the promoter wanted it pulled That has been their approach and it has been a very successful business NASCAR under the 2004 and initiative got creative logical data and the weather is a little bit Gossage said TMS would not have received a second date without a settlement to the lawsuit filed against NASCAR by Ferko a Plano resident and shareholder in parent company Speedway Motorsports Inc Gossage said a settlement was reached some six weeks ago and it was filed Friday at the US District Court in Sherman can tell you that we wish the lawsuit had never been filed but certainly pleased with the Gossage said said a million times that reasonable minds come to reasonable conclusions and I think reasonable minds came to a reasonable Ferko who filed the lawsuit Feb 13 2002 claimed NASCAR breached and contracts by failing to give TMS a second date The lawsuit also accused NASCAR and International Speedway Corp both owned by the France family of Daytona Beach Fla of antitrust District Court in Sherman permanently altered the NASCAR landscape Though the only racetracks mentioned in the settlement are TMS and North Carolina Speedway the agreement caused a chain reaction affecting six other facilities The changes: TMS will have two Cup dates in 2005 North Carolina Speedway is off the schedule after TMS parent company Speedway Motorsports Inc purchased it for $1004 million from lawsuit co-defendant International Speedway Corp the lawsuit was first filed we had one objective Indy Racing League weekends this year will also have the opportunity to renew for 2005 Visit wwwtexasmotor-speedwaycom or call (817) 215-8500 for more information What's in a name? With its second Cup date in hand TMS could soon undergo another face-lift with a new name Eddie Gossage said selling naming rights is a issue and a proposal is on his desk suspect aggressively pursue a naming rights he said Charlotte Motor Speedway a sister facility to TMS sold its naming rights to the home improvements company in 1999 for $35 million over 10 years Pleasantly surprised A spot in the season-ending for the makes second Nextel Cup date even sweeter but Eddie Gossage said he was flattered when NASCAR proposed Busch and Craftsman Truck series races for the same weekend make it a NASCAR tripleheader weekend I think a great acknowledgment from NASCAR that they recognize this to be an important Gossage said Briefly Eddie Gossage on the possibility of the second date going head to head against a Cowboys home game: IndyCar races same day same time in October out-drawn them by 40000 people We know Nextel Cup is far more popular I think something we necessarily need to fear The Cowboys are the Great American Football Team but the Great American The settlement to the Francis Ferko lawsuit stipulates that Speedway Motorsports Inc parent company to TMS pay the legal fees for plaintiffs Ferko and Russell Vaughn The tab: $118 million races will close after this season The eighth track affected is a sister facility to TMS Atlanta Motor Speedway which hosts two races saw its spring date pushed a week deeper into the season to March 20 2005 schedule marks another important milestone not only in realignment efforts but in historical and overall view of its growth NASCAR chairman and CEO Briah 2 France said Friday news conference at Richmond (Va) International Raceway sport is growing and moving faster than ever The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series schedule certainly reflects Jeff Wilson (817) 390-7953 jwilsonstar-telegramcom 11 Lm track will lose one of its two dates and race May 7 during the NASCAR-holy Day Weekend North Carolyia Speedway sold by ISC to £1I for $1004 million only date i court mandates we have settlement discussions which we obviously participated said France as recently as February said he wanted the case to go to trial found a solution a solution that was in the best interest of everybody in the sport So when you have a solution that works for the whole industry that was a moment that we just frankly thought was worth putting forward jis opposed to the distraction'in a Gossage said the lawsuit strained TMS relationship with NASCAR even though TMS file the lawsuit" be lying if I said it get very contentious audd regrettable because fae all know each he said can tell you that things1 are really good right now I tbjpk only going to get ONLINE: wwwtexasmotorspeedway9m ONLINE: wwwnascarcom STAR-TELEGRAMRON JENKINS Marketing TMS' second race date was given the green light Friday as shirts bearing the Lonfc Star 500 logo weve on display -1 NASCAR chairman Brian France speaking at his news conference television to a gathering at Texas Motor Speedway in Richmond Va delivers the details of the lawsuit settlement by By JEFF WILSON STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage is facing a dilemma The coveted second NASCAR Nextel Cup date which was added to the 2005 36-race slate Friday and scheduled for Nov 6 could possibly send the Indy Racing League season finale traditionally held in mid-October to another facility is obviously now a conflict because three weeks Gossage said the IRL were here and gave us races that made us one of the pre-eminent speedways in the country and we want to turn our backs on Gossage and John Griffin the vice president of public relations said discussions will probably begin next month when the IndyCar Series visits Fort Worth for the Bombardier 500 always had a lot of success there and the people of Texas have responded with some incredible Griffin said probably a lot of venues out there that would love to have the season-ender That being said Eddie has done a phenomenal job with that event so that would be a tall task if it going to be Texas in the TMS which has hosted two IRL races per year dating to 1998 is fondly referred to as the home of the Indy Racing with crowds surpassed only by the first home Indianapolis Motor Speedway Get your tickets Tickets are available for the Lone Star 500 which is only 18 months away by purchasing preferred seat licenses for the 2005 season Grandstand season tickets will go on sale during the summer Current PSL and season ticket holders are guaranteed a chance to renew their seats for 2005 and upgrade or add additional seats Fans who purchase a FastPack4 for the two violations obviously pleased with the outcome in terms of Texas getting a second Nextel Cup said Ferko who was joined in the lawsuit by Highland Village resident Russell Vaughn in June 2003 a racing fan been to races at many NASCAR tracks around the country I think Speedway Motorsports does an outstanding job of looking after the interest Great facilities free parking coolers inside the track prices and so forth looking forward to attending two Cup races at Texas next year" Said France: second date is a result of the Ferko settlement but at the same time it fits in perfectly with our realignment France also revealed a number of changes to the Nextel Cup schedule as part of realignment plan Among the major changes: ISC-owned Phoenix International Raceway will host two races April 23 and Nov 13 California Speedway also an ISC racetrack will shift its spring race to Feb 27 Darlington Raceway a third ISC TMS Continued from ID Truck Series on Nov 4 and the Busch Grand National Series on Nov 5 want us to say the playoffs but it is the Gossage said of The Chase only two races following us so this is pivotal I consider it to be a playoff game It may not be the Super Bowl but the semifinal round wanted to be in the last 10 and NASCAR wanted us to be in the last 10 because they know the market and the crowd I think what seeing is trying to shift those last 10 to major markets which is good for the sport and TMS' spring date usually in late March or early April will be pushed back to April 17 traditionally come up against major league baseball Lone Star Park and daylight-saving Gossage said all now get an more sleep between Saturday and Sunday And looked at the climato Tentative 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series schedule Date Track July 10 Chicaqoland Speedway July 17 New Hampshire International Speedway July 24 Pocono Raceway Aug 7 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Aug 14 Watkins Glen International Aug 21 Michigan International Speedway Aug 27 Bristol Motor Speedway Sept 4 California Speedway Sept 10 Richmond International Raceway Sept 18 New Hampshire International Speedway Sept 25 Dover International Speedway Oct 2 Taljadega Superspeedway Oct 9 Kansas Speedway Oct 15 Speedway Oct 23 Martinsville Jjpeed vyay OcL30 Atlanta Motor Speedway Nov 6 Texas MotorSpeedway Nov 13 Phoenix International Raceway Nov 20 Homestead-Miami Speedvfiy Date Track Fe bj 2 Daytona Intern a lonal Speedway Feb 20 Daytona International Speedway Feb 27 California Speedway March 13 Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 20 Atlanta Motor Speedway April 3 Bristol Motor Speedway April 10 Martinsville Speedway April 17 Texas Motor Speedway A ril 23 Phoen i In natio a (Race way ay 1 Talladega Supers peedw a May 7 Darlington Raceway May 4 Richmond International Raceway May 21 Lowe's Motor Speed vyay May 29 Lowe's Motor Speedway June 5 Dover International Speedway June 12 Pocono Raceway June 19 Michigan International Speedway June 26 InfineonRaceway July2 Daytona International Speedway Source: NASCAR NASCAR Nextel STAR-TELEGRAMRON ENNIS Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie announcement of second Nextel Cup race could pos'ibly send the Indy Racing season finale to another facility All Star Challenge.