Ollen Bruton Smith (March 3, 1927 – June 22, 2022) was an American motorsports executive and businessman. He was best known as the owner of two public companies, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) and Sonic Automotive. Smith held the positions of vice president and general manager of the Charlotte Motor Speedway and later as the chief executive officer (CEO) of both Speedway Motorsports and Sonic Automotive. He was a major entrepreneur, race promoter, and businessman during the rise of stock car racing that started in the 1950s.
Smith was born and raised near Oakboro, North Carolina. In 1959, he and stock car racing driver Curtis Turner partnered to construct the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a banked racetrack in Concord, North Carolina. After the initial failure of the speedway, Smith went bankrupt, leading him to pursue endeavors in the car dealership business. After increased success of his car dealership business, Smith bought back stocks of the speedway, eventually becoming the general manager in 1975. After a period of investing in businesses outside the auto racing industry in the 1980s, Smith bought out numerous tracks in the 1990s and 2000s, using the funds he had made after taking SMI public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1995. Two years later, he incorporated Sonic Automotive, a chain of car dealerships, becoming CEO of both SMI and Sonic Automotive.
Smith is widely regarded as of one the most influential businessmen in auto racing and as a polarizing figure in the industry. Throughout his time as a businessman, he was known as an extravagant spender and as someone who cared about details, using his wealth and power to turn racetracks owned by Speedway Motorsports into world-class facilities and to turn Sonic Automotive into one of the biggest car dealership businesses in the United States. Businessmen who have worked under Smith, including Humpy Wheeler and Eddie Gossage, view Smith highly for his actions. However, he was embroiled in numerous legal battles and controversies, including his divorce with his only wife and his reaction to opposition of construction of a drag strip at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Smith is also regarded as one of the key people between a rivalry between Smith's SMI and the NASCAR-owned International Speedway Corporation (ISC), a rivalry that has existed since Smith's start as a race promoter in the late 1940s. The two companies, created by Smith and NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., respectively, have found each other in a series of tense exchanges and lawsuits that have affected NASCAR's legacy and popularity to this day.
Early life
Smith was born in Oakboro, North Carolina, on March 3, 1927, to James Lemuel Smith (1875–1958) and Mollie C. Smith (1887–1982). He was the youngest of nine children. The family lived a mile outside of Oakboro, on a farming community.
Early in his life, Smith showed discontent on living on a farm, stating that while he had the essentials to live, his family had a lack of wealth. According to Smith, his days consisted of working from "sunup to sundown", and he felt that he did not earn enough money for the job he did. Smith initially wanted to become a boxer, wanting to become the middleweight champion of the world at the age of 11. Smith practiced boxing for five years before quitting. Smith also had ambitions to own a trucking company after watching a movie featuring James Cagney.
Smith watched his first auto racing event at the age of eight at the Charlotte Speedway. In 1946, Smith began selling used cars from his front yard, operating the business for around five years, according to The Charlotte News.
After graduating from Oakboro High School (now West Stanly High School) in 1944, he would gain his first job in a hosiery mill. He bought his first race car at 17 for $700 (adjusted for inflation, $). He claims that on one occasion during his brief racing career, he had managed to beat out Buck Baker and Joe Weatherly, both of whom are considered early NASCAR pioneers. However, his mother opposed the idea of Smith racing, beginning to pray that Smith stopped racing. Smith, stating that he couldn't "fight [his] mom and God", stopped racing.