Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 1

Page IB for Ollers stadium legal Page 4 A AC champ has early leg up Bristol irst lady will testify before grand Jury Herald Courier Increasing cloudiness today A good chance of rain after midnight Page 10A Classified 8B 10B Comics 6B Deaths 2A un acts 7B LocalStates 4A 5A Opinion 8A Sports 1 5B Stocks 6A 7A Weather 10A Chuckle It is better to have loved and lost than to end up playing nursemaid to a bunch of screaming kids 125th Year No 23874 Tuesday January 23 1996 Bristol Virginia Tennessean 20 Pages 50" BIR sold Carrier will retire Owner of Charlotte Atlanta tracks says both Bristol dates to remain By GEORGE STONE Sports Editor Larry Carrier who nurtured Bristol International Raceway from a small fledgling track to one which is now among the most pop ular on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit relinquished ownership after 35 years as the sale of the half mile oval was made Monday afternoon to racing magnate 0 Bruton Smith In a hastily called press confer ence at the track BIR vice presi dent and general manager Ron Scalf made the announcement as Carrier accompanied by his wife Shirley and sons Andy and Mark stood side by side with Smith in the press box overlooking the 81000 seat track Smith CEO of Speedway Motor sports Inc located in Charlotte NC also owns Atlanta Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speed way Texas Motor Speedway 50 percent of North Wilkesboro and part of Rockingham Motor Speed way Herald CourlerBill McKee St Larry Carrier longtime owner of Bristol International Raceway answers questions Monday during a press conference in which he announced his retirement and the sale of BIR to Bruton Smith owner of Charlotte Motor Speedway who also owns the Atlanta track and the new speedway under construction in Texas among others The two are surrounded by the rest of the Carrier family rom left are Andy Carrier Shirley Carrier Smith Larry Carrier and Mark Carrier delighted to make this busi ness transaction with Mr Smith said always had a lot of respect for Larry Carrier I think honored me to buy thisplace give you my word that we will to do our level best to continue Larry Carrier took Bristol International Raceway from just another short track to one of the powerhouse facilities of NASCAR or a look back at the Carrier years at BIR please turn to Page 1B what Larry has started I think mMM? i iT' iJ Herald CounerBill McKee This aerial view from the spring of 1995 shows what new owner Bruton Smith is getting with his purchase Monday of Bristol International Raceway The 566 mile oval although a short track is noted for race speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour thanks to the 36 degree banking in the turns the steepest of any track on the NASCAR circuit including Daytona and Talladega? The compact facility boasts seating for 81000 fans City pins hopes on new owner you know what we do and we want to do it in a first class Carrier who was part owner when the track was built in 1960 with a seating capacity of 29000 appeared at ease during the press conference have reached the point in my career where I want to spend more time with my said the 73 year old Carrier been think ing seriously for a couple of weeks about this because I realize how much there is to do here But at my age I think I wanted to tackle Carrier indicated that there had Please see BIR Page 10A By MARK HYLER Bristol Herald Courier The rumors were widespread and ram pant about the future of Winston Cup rac ing in Bristol with announcement that Bristol International Raceway has been sold to speedway magnate Bruton Smith And while BIR founder Larry Carrier and the exuberant Smith who also owns the Charlotte Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway and the under construction Texas Motor Speedway stated that race dates at BIR are firm for the upcoming season speculation still abounded about future dates have absolutely unequivocally no plans to move a Winston Cup date from the Bristol Smith said Monday evening a matter of fact we have al ready been looking at improvements in sev eral areas at the speedway including a plan to add additional Still recent developments at North Wilks boro Speedway which was purchased by Smith and New Hampshire International Speedway president Bob Bahre led some area residents to wonder about the deals longterm impact on Bristol North Wilksboro is the oldest track on the Winston Cup circuit but is expected to lose both its WC races one to New Hampshire which currently has only a single event the other to the new Texas facility in ort Worth The rumor mill had it that Texas might at some point become the benefactor of one of events That scenario sent shivers down the spines of city leaders who hope assurances from Smith and Carrier that BIR will retain its two annual races apply not only to the upcoming season but well into the next century West Sweatt president of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce said the two Win ston Cup races and accompanying Busch Grand National races held at BIR each year bring $100 million to the Twin econo my Please see CITY Page 10A Beltway culvert is removed By ANNE GRUNDON Herald Courier Construction crews were working Monday to re move the remnants of a damaged concrete culvert that will be replaced as part of major repairs to the not yet opened second leg of the Bristol Belt way And although a firm cost for the repairs has not yet been calculated officials with the Tennessee Department of Transportation earlier said they will exceed the original $400000 estimate and will take until late May or early June to com plete already removed part of the concrete culvert and are working on the other said Please see CULVERTS Page 10A Herald CourierBtl McKee 1 I Crews work to remove the original culvert that was installed beneath the second leg of the Bristol Beltway The work was made necessary when cracks were discovered in the culvert Main Street Bristol head resigns By ANNE GRUNDON Bristol Herald Courier The board of directors of Main Street Bristol accepted the resig nation of Executive Director Susie Gordon Monday and will be form ing a search committee in coming weeks to fill the vacant position said President Sue Ojanen Ojanen declined to say whether Gordon voluntarily resigned or was asked to resign but did say the board unanimously accepted her resignation at 7 pm meeting The search committee charged with finding a replace ment will be made up of members of the board Ojanen said adding that volunteers from the board will man the office until replacement is found She said members can expect the same level of service they received with a paid director board of Main Street has accepted the resignation of the ex ecutive director effective im Ojanen said putting together a search com mittee for a replacement Gordon who could not be reached for comment Monday night was hired in January 1993 to replace former executive direc tor Stephanie Large who resigned to continue her education Gordon is a Bristol native who returned to the area after a 10 year stint with Stueart Petroleum of Washington DC Although Ojanen would not give the details of resignation she did say Gordon was present at regular meeting of the board of directors Ojanen also de clined to say how much Gordon was being paid by the non profit organization Informed of resig nation Bristol Tennessee Mayor John Gaines said it was a He said the Main Street organization has contributed to Please see RESIGNS Page 10A Johnson case note is made By ANDREA ROSE Bristol Herald Courier BLOUNTVILLE Bristol Ten nessee pharmacist Harry David Johnson allegedly admitted shooting his wife but claimed it was an accident according to newly released court documents Those documents were released a little more than a week ago as part of the pre trial discovery pro cess and also included the so called that Johnson reportedly left at the crime scene Authorities had previously refused to divulge the contents of that note Despite its earlier description by authorities as a suicide note John son does not actually refer to sui cide in the document ollowing his arrest Johnson was twice placed on suicide watch at the Sul livan County Jail and was once de nied bond largely on the basis of the note The note addressed to John two teen aged daughters details apparent frustra tions with his family life Police claim domestic strife led up to the shooting of wife Katha rine Trotter Johnson love you both but if there is a basement in Hell I can assure you that your mother will be firing the Please see NOTE Page 10A public What the note said The following is the note sometimes referred to as a cide note" that Johnson reportedly left behind at his home after allegedly shooting his wife last June The note was filed in the Sullivan County Cir cuit Court office about a week ago Whit and Arin This is a really difficult letter to write I suppose that it is a way of trying to relate to you the frustrations of life in general I work hard at being a Dad husband pharmacist and all around good citizen I am told by your mother that I am a male chauvinist control freak I go to i my and am reminded of how wrong I am how abusive I am and what an a 1 am Things are reinforced by Arin and you as I play my role as father which means taking care of everything including Mom's duties as well I do not have all the answers I cannot do it all by myself I can't fix things that are unfixable I love you both but if there is a basement in Hell I can assure you that your mother will be fir ing the I really planned for this but between Mr Bill Mike and Dick things will work out I love you both Dad 6 21 95 Blue chip stocks bolt into record territory Page 6A Outside Inside Chuckle What the note said.