Bruton Smith began building what would become SMI in the 1950s when he worked as a race promoter and eventually constructed Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1959. He left the racing business in the early 1960s to pursue other ventures, but by 1975 had taken majority ownership of CMS and assumed the role of CEO. A year later he appointed Humpy Wheeler as general manager and began expanding the facility, including the addition of condominiums — a first for a sports facility.
In 1990, Smith began acquiring additional speedway properties, starting with Atlanta Motor Speedway. In 1992, lights were added to Charlotte Motor Speedway, making it one of the first speedways to offer night racing, and the company developed the Legends car racing circuit, now known as U.S. Legend Cars International. Speedway Motorsports was incorporated in December 1994 and went public on February 24, 1995, debuting at $18 per share.
In 1996, SMI acquired Bristol Motor Speedway and Sonoma Raceway. A year later the company completed the $250 million, 150,000-seat Texas Motor Speedway. Between 1993 and 1998, SMI increased its total seating capacity from 176,000 to 551,000. In 1999, SMI outbid rival International Speedway Corporation (ISC) to purchase Las Vegas Motor Speedway for $215 million — $15 million more than ISC's offer. That same year, SMI sold the naming rights of Charlotte Motor Speedway to Lowe's in a $35 million deal lasting until 2009.
Until 1999, Speedway Motorsports was the top track owner in the motorsports industry. That year, ISC acquired Penske Motorsports in a $623 million deal that propelled ISC to the top position, pushing SMI to second. Smith then focused on securing two NASCAR dates at each of his facilities; as of 2011, only four SMI-owned tracks held two NASCAR dates.
SMI purchased North Wilkesboro Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2007, and Kentucky Speedway in 2008. In 2004, as a result of the Ferko lawsuit, SMI gained ownership of North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina, subsequently closing it and transferring its race date to Texas Motor Speedway. The track was later sold at auction in 2007 for $4.4 million and renamed Rockingham Speedway. SMI-owned tracks host 13 of the 36 NASCAR Cup Series races, including four races in the NASCAR playoffs and the NASCAR All-Star Race.
In December 2018, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway operator Tony Formosa Jr. reached an agreement with Speedway Motorsports and Bristol Motor Speedway to co-operate the facility and make upgrades for NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races. Negotiations with the City of Nashville continued through late 2020 with the goal of hosting NASCAR races as early as 2022, though the track ultimately did not hold races that year. When NASCAR announced that Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, would host the national series beginning in 2021, SMI assumed management responsibilities for the NASCAR at COTA race weekend.
On November 8, 2021, Speedway Motorsports announced it had agreed to purchase Dover Motorsports — owner of Dover International Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway — for $3.61 per share in cash, an approximate total equity value of $131.5 million. The deal closed in December 2021.
Current SMI facilities include Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, and Nashville Superspeedway.
In addition to its racing facilities, Speedway Motorsports owns Performance Racing Network (PRN), which broadcasts NASCAR races at SMI-owned tracks; U.S. Legend Cars International; and co-owns Motorsports Authentics, a joint venture with International Speedway Corporation to produce, market and sell licensed motorsports merchandise. Other subsidiaries include 600 Racing, INEX Corporation, The Speedway Club, Oil-Chem Research Corporation, and Speedway Funding Corporation.
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