Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 78

Page 8G Bristol Herald CourierVirginia Tennessean Sunday ebruary 25 1996 Drivers have choice of tracks from Rural Retreat to Kingsport Vt fCx 1 Txs iiiitauLoin i Til A History of Developing and Manufacturing Superior Oral Antibiotics Dedicated to providing innovative healthcare solutions to improve our nation's health MAJOR PRODUCTS Augmentin3 xi 5feox xd SB SmithKhne Beecham Pharmaceuticals 201 INDUSTRIAL DRIVE PO Box 868 Bristol TN 423 652 3100 By ALLEN GREGORY Bristol Herald Courier Bristol International Raceway the only place for Mountain Empire residents to go racing rom the clay oval for carts at Beechnut Raceway in Blountville sw and the dirt track at Wythe Race s': way in Rural Retreat to the paved 5 stock car tracks at Lonesome Pine International Raceway in Coeburn ft and Kingsport Speedway in King as sport area racing fans will have aa variety of options to select from this summer While Beechnut Wythe Raceway and LPIR offer full racing cards on Saturday nights track officials at Kingsport Speedway plan to run five divisions of racing beginning in early April Kingsport Speedway owner Joe is Loven plans to convert the 38 fa cility from a dirt track into a NASCAR sanctioned Winston Rac ig ing Series track with a concrete 'f surface over the next few months 1 jKingsport Speedway has run a limited schedule of dirt track events in recent years is certainly a great area 'r 'n I I rl A i as Series LONESOME PINENTERIONA 1 wm i 'V ti a jce ESSmSSK Herald CourierKenneth Adkins The events at Kingsport Speedway where the dirt track will soon be topped with concrete should enhance the racing cards at Lonesome Pine International Raceway (above) as drivers build up points for NASCAR said veteran track promoter Harold Crook who will run the new look Kingsport Speedway excited about being the first concrete track among the nearly 100 tracks in the NASCAR Winston Racing Se lies and we look forward to a great relationship with The events at Kingsport should enhance the racing cards at Lone some Pine as drivers can build up points for the lucrative NASCAR Mid Atlantic Late Model points chase think turning Kingsport Speedway into a concrete track will be a good deal for said 22 year old Bristol driver Kelly Denton who competes in the Late Model division will be a good draw for fans good for the local business com munity and it will give local driv ers a better chance to compete for the Mid Atlantic NASCAR Vice President for Ad ministration Dennis Huth said there are plenty of racing fans in the Mountain Empire to go around know from our experience at Bristol International Raceway that the Tri Cities area is filled with avid NASCAR fans and we are confident that they will sup port NASCAR Winston Racing Se ries action at Huth said Three time defending Lonesome Pine International Raceway Late Model champion Tommy Spangler from Bristol is anxious to do dou ble duty this summer lot of drivers from the King sport area used to come to Coe burn to race on Span gler said have been talk ing about paving Kingsport for years and drivers all around the area are excited about the chance to compete at both Wythe Raceway and Beechnut both have built their own large and loyal army of fans and racers throughout the Mountain Empire With the current interest and predicted growth in all forms of racing the future looks bright for area racing fans Much like the case at BIR a variety of improve ments have been made to all four tracks in recent years and at tendance has remained strong Herald CourterMike Jackson BIR is one of the hottest tickets on the circuit with both Winston Cup events boasting sellout crowds efforts made BIR one of hottest tickets (I jl i 1 dH 'f By LORI WORLEY I Bristol Herald Courier As little as a decade ago Bristol 1 International Raceway was open ing its doors to just about 29000 folks for each of the two Winston Cup races contested on the half mile oval yearly Then along came Larry Carrier I who swept the track out of bank ruptcy and right into the hearts of NASCAR and Winston Cup fans Since Carrier brought new life to BIR Winston Cup pop Jularity soared and so has Bristol International Race way sold by Carrier to racing magnate Bruton Smith in Janu ary is now one of the hottest tick ets on the circuit with both Win ston Cup events boasting sellout crowds A big reason for popularity was long standing dedi i cation to making sure his facility was top notch Improvements were constantly made after each event and seats always seem to be pop i ping up Ten years ago there were 29000 of them and when the ood City JJ 500 is run at BIR on March 31 this year the capacity should be "somewhere around 81000 Before the crowds jam into BIR'for the spring event a myriad ofchanges undertaken by Carrier before his retirement will have I taken place because he al ways ranked right at the top of track owners when it came to keeping the track in top condition wanted this track to be the I kind of place where people really wanted to said Carrier they can go to only one race or two i races a year i wanted tnem to pick my track or that to happen you had to put money back into Before Carrier sold the track to Smith plans had already been I made to push the seating capacity to 81000 But don't expect Smith i to settle on that number says going to continue I with the said Car rier I feel like hell put 120000 seats in here before he's done As long as there are people i who want those seats sure he!) keep up with the A total of about 5000 new seats will have been installed prior to i the spring event Seats will be added between Turns 3 and 4 the scoreboard which is there now will be taken down and 360 ex ecutive seats will be added on the bank in Turn 1 below the press box Twenty five more rows will also be added to the Bud section There are other changes The old scoreboard will be replaced by a modem four sided one which will be erected in the infield and will show the running order of the top seven cars The cost for the score board alone is estimated at $175000 A new bridge under construc tion when Carrier sold the track was being built out behind the track in order to expedite travel in and out which will also be aided by the new beltway There will also be 10 more re stroom facilities opened around the track particularly between Turns 1 and 2 eliminating for the most part the use of port johns What is the cost of those facilities? Somewhere around $1 million those bathrooms in was something that the track really needed and since the city is put ting sewer lines in in the front part of the track we able to do said Carrier nice facilities I don't think find nicer ones at any other An elevator has also been in stalled in the press box along with a ladies room The track has also purchased its own grinding ma chine made specifically for BIR bought it to sand the track and we ve been doing that already Turn 3 is as smooth as can be and so is Turn said Carrier So for all these additions and improvements just what kind of money are we talking about? I say somewhere over $5 mil said Carrier really don think about how much it costs because these things just have to be done if you want a first class place fill as many seats as Bruton Smith builds BIR rom Page 1G love such as this type of racing I think every speedway has to be a super speedway a place for some short tracks a heritage there that we dare not try to take away The commitment to keep both races (in Bristol) goes on and on and And with that commitment comes more improvements Carrier Setting the Course: Reaching for 2001 Most Anticipated Edition of the Year Bristol Herald Courier Bristol Mrgltiia reimessciin 1996 Progress Edition a place for some short tracks a heritage that we dare not try to take Bruton Smith was one of the best tracks owners in NASCAR when it came to put ting money back into his facility to make it a comfortable and exciting place for the fans1 Smith says continue to make the improvements he feels are necessary to keep Bristol In ternational Raceway among the top echelon of race tracks is an exploding sport and we are no better than our fa cilities and right here today we are at a great facility and my de sire is to make it even Smith said RELIANCE DIESEL SERVICE INC ACTORY AUTHORIZED SALES and SERVICE I I AA ir i uel Injection Pumps Injectors Turbochargers Turbo Conveyors Exchange Units or MACK JOHN DEERE CUMMINS ORD INTERNATIONAL DETROIT 1 CASE PERKINS MASSEY ERGUSON Gasoline uel Injectors Cleaned and Serviced AUTOMOTIVE GASOLINE TurboChargers Exchange Phone: (540) 669 3040 21012 Salem Rd Bristol VA ASSOCIATION DIESEL SPECIALISTS jlOS 423 652 3100 I fc 1 4.