CONCORD, N.C. — Speedway Motorsports, the company which owns and operates eight NASCAR national series race tracks, has announced layoffs and furloughs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Led by O. Bruton Smith and his son, Marcus Smith, Speedway Motorsports handles operations for Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway.
Approximately 180 jobs were cut as a result of the restructuring plan, with an additional 100 employees furloughed while the United States waits to be able to return to racing.
“The extraordinary circumstances presented by this pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of the economy have had a significant impact on our business,” Speedway Motorsports officials said in a Wednesday morning statement. “Since the beginning of the shutdown four weeks ago, we have kept our entire team on full pay while our properties remained dormant. In that time, it has become clear that we must be a more nimble, more efficient organization. As such, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our business and eliminate many duplicate positions. Unfortunately, part of this restructuring includes eliminating approximately 180 positions across all departments at our speedways and subsidiaries. Approximately 100 additional employees have been furloughed.
“These decisions were not easy. Our company is providing a severance package to each person affected by job eliminations,” the statement continued. “Speedway Motorsports remains committed to providing the very best entertainment experience to all who come through our gates when America’s fight against this pandemic is behind us. This reorganization positions us to move forward at that time and well into the future.
“In the meantime, our staff will continue to maintain our facilities in preparation for the event days ahead and support our community with outreach efforts during this time of need.”
The Speedway Motorsports layoffs follow similar restructuring efforts conducted at NASCAR and IndyCar in recent weeks.