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Speedway Motorsports Hosts Successful NAPA 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Race

12 November 1998

Speedway Motorsports Hosts Successful NAPA 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Race 
    CONCORD, N.C., Nov. 11 -- Based on its overnight recap,
Speedway Motorsports, Inc. officials announced that NASCAR's 50th
anniversary season came to a successful close at Atlanta Motor Speedway this
past weekend.
    Despite delays totaling nearly seven and one-half hours because of
scattered showers, Sunday's NAPA 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race was
officially completed Sunday night under the new lighting system at the
1.54-mile superspeedway. Newly crowned NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Jeff Gordon
won the event, tying Richard Petty's NASCAR modern era win mark of 13
victories in one season.
    "The fact that we were able to complete the NAPA 500 on Sunday is a
testimony to the benefits of having lights at a speedway," stated H.A.
Wheeler, chief operating officer and president of Speedway Motorsports. "The
new lighting system, installed by Musco Lighting earlier this year, gave us a
longer window of opportunity in which to complete the 500 miles. This allowed
us to avoid the inconvenience and expense of having to hold the event on
Tuesday, as the radar indicated rain on Monday. We also had a near sellout of
advanced ticket sales for the 500."
    Record crowds and sunny skies greeted the Stihl Power Tools 300 NASCAR
Busch Series race held on Saturday. The race had been postponed from March 7
to Nov. 7, because of rain.
    Speedway Motorsports, a New York Stock Exchange company, is a leading
marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. SMI
owns and operates the following premier facilities: Atlanta Motor Speedway,
Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sears Point Raceway and
Texas Motor Speedway. SMI also provides event food, beverage, and souvenir
merchandising services through its Finish Line Events subsidiary, and
manufactures and distributes smaller-scale, modified racing cars through its
600 Racing subsidiary.