on Thursday, May 1st, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is scheduled to be joined by Richard Petty, Marcos Ambrose and Charlotte Motor Speedway President and General Manager Marcus Smith to make a special proclamation. #9-Marcos Ambrose will then take Gov. McCrory for a ride along in an 800-horsepower stock car on the legendary 1.5-mile superspeedway.(CMS)(5-1-2014)
UPDATE NC Governor Pat McCrory Declares May ‘Motorsports Month’, see images at Charlottemotorspeedway.com.
AND NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith is no stranger to controversy and catching people off guard. He did just that on Thursday when he asked North Carolina’s governor for $100 million to improve his Concord-based race track. Governor Pat McCrory was at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday to proclaim May as ‘Motorsports Month’ in North Carolina, ahead of the All Star Race and Coca Cola 600 later this month. ‘Racing and motorsports have helped define our state and drive our economy,’ said Governor McCrory. ‘We are proud of the rich history of motorsports in North Carolina and that so many teams, tracks and events call our state home. Today we celebrate that legacy, as well as the industry’s bright future.’ The governor was joined by NASCAR Hall of Fame member Richard Petty, Bruton and Marcus Smith, and NASCAR driver Marcos Ambrose to sign the proclamation.
That’s when Smith told the governor he’d be coming for some money. ‘While you’re here, I’ve got to find some time to talk to you,’ Bruton said to McCrory. ‘We want to spend about $100 million here to improve our situation and I certainly would like to have you to say ‘you know well that’s a good thing’.’
‘I’m gonna fight for you,’ McCrory responded while laughing. He then pointed to driver Marcos Ambrose . ‘And I’m bringing my man to help it.’
‘Now that I’ve got you here, we only wanna spend a hundred, okay? Downtown Charlotte spending $88 million on something that was built a few years ago. Well, I built this place in 1960. That was a while back.’ That’s when Smith asked if McCrory wanted him to come see him to talk or if he wanted to talk ‘right here in front of God and everybody else.’ McCrory took the microphone from Smith saying he’d just come from a prayer breakfast, so ‘why don’t we do it later.’(wbtv.com)
