tonight. Many people are mourning the loss of a legend,
Bruton smith died earlier today at the age of 95
people are looking back on his extraordinary life that
started on a farm in Oak Borough. North Carolina are
glen counts live tonight and glen you spoke to some of
the people at charlotte Motor speedway who knew him
best
well, yeah, Erica, there are a lot of heavy hearts
around charlotte motor speedway tonight. You know,
Bruton smith had a personal connection to many of the
folks who walked through these doors.
There is a long list of words you could use to
describe Bruton smith, but to rise to the top, you
know, the terms legendary and giant are probably
overused in the worlds of sports but but he fit the
bill on both counts. Dave moody is the lead announcer
for M. R. N. He is mourning smith's passing, he calls
him a genius. He was the most amazing person I've ever
known in terms of Doing things that nobody thought
could be done. You know, lighting a mile and a half
racetrack. It had never been done before. He did it
here. People thought he was nuts and he did it. Anyway,
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a shrine to Smith. This
was his baby. What do you think about the fact that
you had a guy who was 33 years old from Oak Bird north
Carolina, the youngest of nine kids and to build a
place like this, a place that has hosted millions of
people from around the world here in north Carolina.
Greg walter is a general manager. He worked side by
side with smith for years. So this loss is personal,
he had a heart for people. He was always energized by
crowds and and the smiles of the fans. He was a
practical joker. He would tease, he would have fun,
but he would talk to anybody, walter says smith always
put the fans first and always strive to give them an
experience. Second to none. Last year I had 17 races,
we caught up with Tom Alton at the Nascar Hall of Fame.
He calls himself not just a fan but a fanatic. He'll
never be forgotten in this business and from the fans,
he's kind of like Earnhardt when we lost Earnhardt,
Earnhardt was our legacy as a driver and Richard Petty.
The king of course is also a legacy that's still with
us. Fortunately Bruton will be the legendary and
legacy of tracks for the fans. He was all about. The
fans would never be too busy to talk to any of us or
any fan and that's that that humility, even spite of
all his success is what made him so special.
But walter believes that smith has left Nascar in good
hands. He believes that his Children are more than
capable of taking the sport to the next level back to
you. Glenn, thank you, he will be missed. No memorial
messages are pouring in from the biggest names in
Nascar rick Hendrick owner of Hendrick Motorsports
said quote he was someone you wanted on your side
because he was tough as nails and never backed down
from a fight, although most knew him as a savvy and
successful businessman, I will remember Bruton first
and foremost as a father, a family man and a dear
friend Dale Earnhardt Jr tweeted today that Bruton
smith's contribution to stock car racing is hard to
measure and his vision created growth and
opportunities for Earnhardt scott Fowler with our
partners of the charlotte Observer has covered Bruton
smith for decades and tonight he shared a story from
smith's youth that led to his strength and the rest of
his life. one thing Bruton Smith was was a dreamer
When he was 12 years old, he wanted to be middleweight
champion of the world. That didn't work out either,
but what he did learn how to do was punch and he could,
he told me at one time, he said, you know, I never
became middleweight champion of the world, but I got,
I learned to punch really hard and I got to where I
could knock a door down and what Britain smith really
could do throughout his life was knocked down a lot of
doors, he sure could now Fowler also explained that
smith like drama and shared what smith said about
wanting more drama out of one of the nicest Nascar
drivers, Jimmie johnson, he said shoot, he can hit me
if he wants to, I don't care, I just want him to hit
somebody. Well, speaking of johnson, he posted this
photo today saying one of his favorite memories with
Bruton smith is gifting him johnson's final
martinsville clock, he says he'll never forget the
smile on smith's face Now I also smoke, spoke rather
to smith's good friend Richard Childress, who
reflected on their first interaction, I was down at
Charlotte Motor Speedway, we're running an old Grand
American car and this was in 69, I think it was and uh
I had a bad windshield in it and brute gave me enough
money to go get a windshield for the car.
We also heard so much from people today talking about
how much Bruton smith did for our community,
especially through his speedway, Children's charities
organization. We've posted so much more about Bruton
smith online and you can also look through our gallery
of smith photos through the years, all of that on our
free WSOC news app