Bruton Smith's NASCAR Legacy Is So Much More than Charlotte Motor Speedway

• Bruton Smith, who died June 22 at the age of 95, was the very definition of a tycoon, a self-made man who took wild swings in life.

• Perhaps the most audacious thing in a very long list of audacious things Smith did was decide to hold the first 600-mile race in NASCAR history.

• Smith rose from stark poverty on an Oakboro, N.C. farm to riches beyond his dreams.

Bruton Smith will be laid to rest Thursday in his native North Carolina, his legacy as one of the most impactful sports figures in the state and in international motorsports secure.

Smith, who died June 22 at the age of 95, did audacious things. He was the very definition of a tycoon, a self-made man who took wild swings in life and, more often than not, hit home runs. He wasn’t afraid to challenge the status quo, standard thinking or those who might take the considerable risk of testing him.

Perhaps the most audacious thing in a very long list of audacious things Smith did was decide to hold the first 600-mile race in NASCAR history. This epic event occurred in June 1960 at the opening of Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The first World 600 was scheduled only 10 years after NASCAR’s top series raced for the first time on asphalt—at then-new Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. That was the first 500-mile race in NASCAR history, and Smith, looking to add shine to the first race at his new track, chose to go to another level.

The race drew a big swath of publicity, but it was something less than marvelous. Chunks of the track’s fresh asphalt came up during the race, and teams added screens to the front of their cars to protect the radiator and engine.

It became the marathon of marathons. Jack Smith, a NASCAR pioneer driver from Spartanburg, S.C., had the race won until debris caused a rupture in his gas tank in the closing laps. His crew tried to plug the leak with numerous items, including a bar of soap, but nothing worked. Smith wept as what would have been a signature win disappeared.

Joe Lee Johnson won the race, one of only two Cup victories in his short career.

Smith lost the Charlotte track because of a web of financial problems, but he returned to take over CMS in the 1970s, eventually turning it into one of auto racing’s palaces.