Bruton Smith’s Speedway Motorsports International has sued the city of Concord, North Carolina, for $80 million that SMI claims the city agreed to pay in exchange for leaving Lowe’s Motor Speedway in place near the city and upgrading the faclity. The case is progressing, and now city lawyers for the city have asked the judge to dismiss the case on the grounds that there was never a formal contract between SMI and the city. They also argue that the court cannot force the city to enter into a contract they never agreed to in the first place. 

According to a story we saw in the Charlotte Business Journal, Smith’s company is contesting a supposed agreement with Concord that would reimburse him for $80 million in expenses to improve Lowe’s Motor Speedway and build what is now zMax Dragway. That money would also offset the cost of the infrastructure needed to get people in and out of both tracks.

SMI does not believe that the city should be allowed to pay that money back over the course of 40 years as is now the case. The city claims that there is no signed agreement and that the court has no grounds to force them into one.

This promises to get very interesting as the case inches ever closer to actually being heard in a court of law.