Dover shareholder wants to sell track to SMI (2024)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If Marathon Partners LP has its way, Dover International Speedway will be the next purchase of Speedway Motorsports Inc.

Mario D. Cibelli, the manager of the largest outside shareholder of Dover Motorsports Inc., on Thursday sent a letter to the board of directors urging the company to sell.

The move comes as the Sprint Cup series heads to the "Monster Mile" this weekend and on the heels of SMI's purchase of Kentucky Speedway, which sparked speculation that the company would purchase another track for its Cup date.

Dover, Pocono Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway are the only independently owned tracks left on the circuit, and Indianapolis is not about to sell or give up its lone Cup date.

"We're really getting down to the end of a consolidation of the industry," said Cibelli, noting the remaining tracks with Cup dates are owned by SMI and International Speedway Corporation."It's clear Dover does not have an independent future. In my opinion, it's time to do something now."

Marathon Partners owns 7½ percent of Dover Motorsports Inc. Cibelli said he hasn't talked to another shareholder that doesn't agree with his position, which he first stated in a letter written last year.

"Looking at SMI's portfolio of facilities, including Kentucky, it is clear SMI needs to own at least one more race track that has two Sprint Cup weekends attached to it," Cibelli wrote in his most recent letter. "The past decade of race track consolidation has left Dover Motorsports and Pocono Raceway as the only viable options for acquiring additional Sprint Cup race weekends.

"While it is impossible to rule out any transaction, Pocono Raceway owner Joe Mattioli and his wife have been widely quoted for years saying
that Pocono is not for sale and that the track is within a generation-skipping trust, which would make any potential sale occur many years from now," Cibellie wrote. "The consolidation of premier NASCAR racing facilities in America is all but complete, and Dover is the final piece to the puzzle."

Cibelli said he met with SMI chairman Bruton Smith last summer but has had no contact since. He said the financial losses of the company's other three tracks without Cup dates in Memphis, Nashville and St. Louis are a big part of his sense or urgency to sell now.

"We have been told over the years that the Midwest tracks lose approximately $6 million a year in total," he wrote. "In addition to all of the capital that has been sunk into these facilities, management, with the Board's blessing, sees fit to continually add to the investment in the form of annual losses. This makes absolutely no sense."

Cibelli said the three tracks that were listed on the books at $150 million have recently had $61 million written off the face value.

"Their recognition of just how poorly they've done with that asset, that clearly was the catalyst for us [to write the letter]," he said.

Denis McGlynn, the president and CEO of Dover Motorsports, would not comment on whether there have been talks with Smith or anybody from SMI. He said the track is approached on a regular basis about selling, but he can't foresee under any circ*mstances there not being Cup racing at the one-mile track.

Smith would also like to give Las Vegas a second date, which means any track with two dates purchased would be susceptible to losing both dates.

"I didn't discuss that in any level of detail," Cibelli said of his meeting with Smith. "As far as I'm concerned Dover is a world-class facility. There are a number of tracks with two dates that might make sense to have one date and send one somewhere else.

"The thought of no race at Dover doesn't make sense to me," he said.

But selling Dover does.

"Since the separation of casino and motorsports operations more than six years ago, the share price of Dover Motorsports has fallen by approximately 20 percent," Cibelli wrote. "In a 2002 letter to shareholders of the companies, chairman Henry Tippie stated that the spin-off was intended to facilitate 'capital raising and acquisitions' in order to 'set the stage for future growth' for the casino and motorsports companies.

"The spin-off, as originally conceived, has failed to live up to its stated intentions. After six years without price appreciation, the old playbook must be thrown out. The days of the independent NASCAR track owners have all but passed," he wrote.

David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.