Speedway Motorsports Reports Record Attendance and TV Ratings

CONCORD, N.C., May 23 Speedway Motorsports officials said today that last Saturday night's running of The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway, broke all event attendance records and produced the highest cable TV rating in the 18-year history of the event.

The successful weekend makes a strong case for NASCAR to keep the all-star event at the speedway based near Charlotte.

A crowd of more than 140,000 was on hand to see Ryan Newman hold off a hard-charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win NASCAR's annual all-star race. The race produced a 4.1 rating on the FX Network, up 11-percent from 3.7 in 2001. Total households increased 31% to 3,186,00 from 2,426,000. In addition, attendance for The Winston exceeded the total combined attendance for the all- star events of the four other major professional sports leagues. The combined attendance for the Pro Bowl (NFL), NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball all-star games was 135,364.

"I think the success of the weekend makes a strong statement to keep The Winston right here at Lowe's Motor Speedway," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president and COO of Speedway Motorsports. "I know officials from R.J. Reynolds & Winston were very pleased and of course the fans and NASCAR participants made their voices heard in keeping this great event right here in the epicenter of NASCAR racing."

The results of two national fan polls, conducted on NASCAR.com and Thatsracin.com, had more than 70-percent of fans voting to keep The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway. A NASCAR driver poll, conducted by the Charlotte Observer, had a near unanimous vote to keep the event at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Wheeler said speedway officials have begun discussions with NASCAR for next year's sanction agreements at all of its NASCAR-sanctioned facilities. The speedway, along with state, local and civic leaders will make a strong case to enhance the NASCAR all star event in 2003 and keep it here at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Speedway Motorsports is a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. SMI owns and operates the following premiere facilities: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway at Charlotte, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Sears Point Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway. The company provides souvenir merchandising services through its SMI Properties subsidiary, and manufactures and distributes smaller-scale, modified racing cars through its 600 Racing subsidiary. The company also owns Performance Racing Network which broadcasts syndicated motorsports programming to over 750 stations nationwide. For more information, visit www.gospeedway.com .