Bruton Smith threw down the gauntlet on October 1st - if the city of Concord wouldn't approve his drag strip, then he'd take his toy (Lowes Motor Speedway) and play elsewhere. 

The city of Concord cited concerns over noise pollution when changing the zoning. The mayor spoke out on behalf of the hundred or so families that bought homes near the Speedway since it was built. Bruton merely said he wishes to grow his business.

So who's right? In this case, Bruton gets the thumbs up.

Unfortunately for Concord, in this David versus Goliath fight, they forgot to bring their sling. Now, I would like to preface the following with this: I fully support the people of New York City who opposed the planned track there, as it was being planned for a highly populated area. The residents had a right to the lifestyle they'd already established. Quite frankly, they were there first. 

In this case, Concord's defense of 100 new residents was baseless, as these people moved to the area knowing what they were getting into. A dragway is a different beast from a speedway (louder sound for a shorter duration), but the number of events is going to probably be comparable to Nextel Cup events (3 Cup races, 2 Busch races,  a Truck race, qualifying for each event, test sessions for each series) and other lower levels (Legends, etc.). Even assuming that Bruton (who goes for the best) gets an NHRA affiliation, that's still not as many events as one might think.

Also, the zoning was changed after the project had already started. Which meant at some point the city had approved the project and didn't consider it a problem. I do think the residents who were going to be affected should have their voices heard - after all, they need to know what kind of traffic to expect with a drag event, they need to know what measure the Speedway will be taking to dampen the sound (natural barriers like trees - something that takes time to build up?), they even need to know what kind of effect it might have on their property taxes. The city needed to be asking hard questions about what they'd have to do with regards to roads to ease the burden on local residents. But all of those things needed to be hammered out between the Speedway and the citizens first, not necessarily by the city. (I'll put the blame for that one on Bruton - first order of business when messing with people's land is to tell them up front and face to face what's going on, so as to avoid misunderstandings.)

Most notably, though, is the fact that this is Bruton Smith.

Speedway Motorsports Inc. has six tracks that are on the Nextel Cup circuit. The man is one of the most influential people in North Carolina, because he is one of the richest. The man did not get to where he is by idly sitting by and letting his businesses do what they will - like other rich men, he grew his businesses and developed areas that show promise. Drag racing has seen some growth in popularity and is a logical partnership with a speedway. If it makes more money for his stockholders, why not go for it?

Plus he's got the state and the city of Concord firmly in his grasp. NASCAR put the Hall of Fame here because of the roots of the sport and because of the location of LMS and many of the race teams. Bruton doesn't have to argue with Concord over the drag strip - NASCAR and North Carolina will make sure he keeps any relocation within the state. It's too big of a cash cow to let get away.

Which means that the drag strip will happen, because Bruton wants it, and Bruton will get what he wants. Whether it's in Concord (where the residents willingly built near a Speedway) or somewhere else around Charlotte (where people undoubtedly would be pissed to have to deal with the noise and traffic), it's going to stay. The city of Concord made an attempt - an ill-fated one - to get the upper hand, but they never stood a chance. Inevitably, they'll have to bend to Bruton's will (and already are) because higher powers than them will point out that the state's economy is very dependent on the industry and that it's better that a few hundred people who have already been inconvenienced be inconvenienced more, versus inconveniencing a whole new batch of people.

Game, set, match for Bruton. And he didn't even have to lift a finger.