Speedway completes shift to new owner

Friday, Dec. 11, 1998 | 11:13 a.m.

Despite the perception that the Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a money pit for owners Ralph Englestad and Bill Bennett, the casino magnates turned a handsome profit by selling the 1,500-acre property to noted racetrack operator Bruton Smith.

As reported in Tuesday's Sun, Englestad and Bennett sold the 107,000-seat Speedway, industrial park and nearby real estate to Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc., for $212.4 million, Bennett said.

The selling price does not include the $28 million in cash that Englestad and Bennett took out of the track following the inaugural Las Vegas 400 NASCAR Winston Cup race in March.

That's a 20 percent return on their initial investment of $200 million.

"It was a good investment ... we made money on it," Bennett, owner of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, said Thursday in an exclusive interview with the Sun. "We made about $40 or $45 million."

Bennett, 73, said the decision to sell the speedway stemmed from his and Englestad's lack of knowledge -- and interest -- in automobile racing.

"I don't know a damn thing about running a speedway and Ralph doesn't know a damn thing about it," Bennett said. "We hadn't been in the business of running a track and we didn't know how damn difficult it was to do.

"Ralph and I both left the NASCAR race when it was about 60 percent over with -- that shows you how much interest we had in it."

Bennett said he had no problem with the management of the track, headed by LVMS Chairman Richie Clyne, but acknowledged that Clyne had no experience as a track operator before he opened the facility in 1996.

"Richie Clyne is a nice guy, but he doesn't know (anything) about running a track," Bennett said. "We had some problems getting the National Hot Rod Association, we couldn't get them signed up to (run at) the drag strip. That's why we didn't finish the grandstands.

"Smith will be able to get those (types of events). There will be a lot of racing out there."

According to Bennett, Smith paid $212,396,112 in cash for the property. Clyne, who earned 20 percent of the profits generated by the track, netted $1.34 million from the deal, Bennett said. Englestad and Bennett were equal partners in the track.

Bennett also confirmed a Sun report that NASCAR President Bill France's International Speedway Corp., made an unsuccessful bid to buy the Speedway.

"We were trying to sell it to Bill France, but (Smith's offer) was considerably higher," Bennett said. "(France) wanted to buy it and he made us an offer on it but (Smith) came in and offered $100 million more."

Smith, who now owns six tracks where a total of nine NASCAR Winston Cup points races are held annually, also confirmed SMI's purchase of LVMS on Thursday.

"This acquisition helps Speedway Motorsports achieve a critical mass that will enhance our overall broadcast leverage, sponsorship leverage and operating leverage," Smith said in a statement.

Smith will make a formal announcement on the deal Monday in Las Vegas.

SMI adds the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to an impressive list of tracks that includes Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Sears Point Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

Speedway Motorsports' acquisition includes the 107,000-seat 1.5-mile superspeedway; the half-mile clay track; the unfinished drag strip; the industrial park; and 300 acres of undeveloped land. SMI said it intends to sell the additional real estate within 12 months.

Bennett said he expected Smith to add another Winston Cup race to the LVMS calendar in the future, although he did not say whether the additional race would come from NASCAR or from one of Smith's other venues.

"Smith is telling us that he will have at least one NASCAR race, maybe two," Bennett said. "I'm pretty sure they'll have two NASCAR races out there."

The inaugural Las Vegas 400 Winston Cup race drew a sellout crowd estimated at 135,000 people and generated an enormous cash flow for the track, Bennett said.

"We made a lot of money on that (race)," Bennett said. "That's when we took the money out of the track. Ralph and I, we had some extra cash out there, and Ralph and I got $14 million apiece."

The race also provided a nice windfall for Bennett's Sahara Hotel and Casino.

"What surprised me about NASCAR (fans) ... I'm out there looking at 130,000 people in the stands and I said, 'There can't be anybody in the casino,'" Bennett said.

"(But) it turned out to be the biggest weekend we've ever had in the casino since I bought this place."