Greg Walter, a 25-year veteran of Speedway Motorsports, was promoted from Executive Vice President and General Manager to President of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith made the announcement Saturday in the media center at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the eve of the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600.
Walter oversees daily operations of the motorsports megaplex campus, which includes the famed 1.5-mile superspeedway as well as zMAX Dragway and The Dirt Track at Charlotte. On Sunday, Walter and the CMS team will host fans from all 50 states and 14 foreign countries for the third consecutive sellout of the Coca-Cola 600 at America’s Home for Racing.
“Greg has shown exemplary leadership in building a tremendous team during his past six years as general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway,” said Smith. “He has earned this title through not only what he has done internally at CMS, but also with his community service at the state, regional and local levels to foster cooperation with public and private entities.
“Greg has enhanced Charlotte Motor Speedway’s reputation as a national destination for not only sports and entertainment, but for putting fans first and always keeping an eye open for the next great promotional opportunity. He is respected both as a teammate and a head coach by his colleagues. It’s an honor to name Greg Walter the president of Charlotte Motor Speedway.”
A three-time Speedway Motorsports promoter of the year, Walter currently serves on executive boards or in leadership positions with the North Carolina Motorsports Association, North Carolina Travel and Tourism Coalition, Cabarrus County Economic Development Corporation, Cabarrus County Visitors and Convention Bureau and Speedway Children’s Charities.
Walter joined Speedway Motorsports in 1999 as vice president of sales for Atlanta Motor Speedway before being promoted to the national sales team in 2014.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in journalism, Walter began his professional career working for a small radio station in Wilson, North Carolina. From there, he worked in advertising sales for Raycom Sports, helped launch 96.1 FM in Charlotte and eventually became the head of affiliate and sponsorship sales for ESPN Regional.
After his time with ESPN, Walter moved to Capitol Broadcasting, a company based in Raleigh-Durham, where he oversaw advertising sales for national NASCAR radio networks, as well as the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes television network and the Duke University sports radio network. After five years, he joined Speedway Motorsports in Atlanta.