Charlotte Speedway Founder, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bruton Smith Dies at 95

• Ollen Bruton Smith, founder of Speedway Motorsports Inc. and one of the most forward-thinking track operators died Wednesday at age 95.

• The native of Oakboro, North Carolina had been in failing health for some time and had rarely been seen in public since his 2016 Hall of Fame induction.

• Smith was best-known for building the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway north of the growing city in the late 1950s.

Ollen Bruton Smith, founder of Speedway Motorsports Inc. and one of the most forward-thinking track operators and promoters in all of motorsports, died Wednesday at age 95 in Charlotte.

The native of Oakboro, North Carolina had been in failing health for some time and had rarely been seen in public since his 2016 induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Creative, innovative, and a fearless entrepreneur, he was the first to take a motorsports-related company – his Speedway Motorsports Inc. franchise – to the New York Stock Exchange in 1995. SMI eventually would build its business portfolio to include 11 speedways that currently host almost two dozen NASCAR and NHRA races. Among SMI’s holdings are tracks at Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Dover, Kentucky, Las Vegas, Nashville, New Hampshire, North Wilkesboro, Sonoma, and Fort Worth.

During a 2016 NASCAR media event, team owner Roger Penske said of Smith: “Bruton is a special guy and someone who has brought so much to NASCAR. When you think about the Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol, and tracks like New Hampshire and Sonoma and Atlanta, he’s been the best. There’s no question. He set the bar.”

Smith was best-known for building the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway north of the growing city in the late 1950s. He and co-founder Curtis Turner struggled financially throughout the project, but eventually opened for its inaugural World 600 in June of 1959, only a few weeks delayed from their Memorial Day weekend goal.