DOVER, De - One of NASCAR's power groups is acquiring Dover Motorsports Inc. and in turn the Dover International Speedway affectionately known as the Monster Mile. Speedway Motorsports announcing the deal on Monday night.
It means the two tracks under Dover Motorsports, Dover and Nashville, will become the property of Speedway. Speedway owns the Charlotte Motor Speedway which hosts one of NASCAR's crown jewel events, the Coca-Cola 600 (formerly World 600) on Memorial Day weekend.
The agreement calls for Speedway Motorsports to pay $3.61 per share, an approximate value of $131.5 million to acquire Dover Motorsports.
In addition to Charlotte, Speedway also owns Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway. Scheduling has become fluid in the sport. It was this year that Dover gave up one its two NASCAR dates and moved it to Nashville ushering in the return of Cup racing to that area for the first time since 1984. Speedway's Kentucky lost its race date for the 2021 season.
“We’ve been committed to working for the fans and growing the sport of NASCAR for more than 60 years,” said Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith. “This is a tremendous opportunity for us to continue growing our investment in motorsports.
"While this marks the end of our 52 years as an independent operator in NASCAR,” said Dover Motorsports President and CEO Denis McGlynn, “our future advancement is best secured by joining forces with a major player in the sport and we are happy to be able to become part of the Speedway Motorsports family and to be able to work with Marcus Smith as NASCAR embraces its future.”
It is unclear at this time what the deal means for Dover on future NASCAR schedules. Dover's 2022 race weekend is scheduled for April 29 - May 1. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this calendar year.