Key players in the Lowe's Motor Speedway drag strip drama:
Who was involved
Key players in the Lowe's Motor Speedway drag strip drama:
• Bruton Smith: Heads Sonic Automotive and Speedway Motorsports, parent of Lowe's Motor Speedway and other race tracks. Forbes magazine lists his fortune at $1.2 billion. Lowe's Motor Speedway generated $169 million in tourism spending for Cabarrus County in 2006, about 70 percent of the county's tourism revenue.
• Scott Padgett: The retired educator and NASCAR fan was first elected Concord mayor in 2001. He wrote to a school administrator that the controversy "reminds me of being a school principal, dealing with spoiled children and their parents."
• Bob Carruth: A Cabarrus County commissioner who was board chairman last year.
• John Cox: Head of the Cabarrus County Economic Development Corp. and Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce. He worked with government leaders to secure a deal with Smith.
• Doug Stafford: A hotel developer and former Speedway Motorsports executive who has known Smith for more than 20 years.
• John Kennedy: The retired publisher of a Concord newspaper, he and Smith have been friends for more than 50 years.
• DeSales Wagster: In her first year running the Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau, she wanted to shower Smith with public support.
• Brian Hiatt: Concord's city manager since 1998 was among the first to learn of Smith's drag strip plans.
• John Day: Cabarrus County manager since 2003. He resisted the idea of increasing Smith's incentives package from $60 million to $80 million.
