When Bruton Smith informed Jerry Gappens last Monday that Gappens was being promoted from senior vice president of events and marketing for Lowe's Motor Speedway to executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Gappens said he had two questions for
1. What are you planning to do to bring the track up to SMI standards?
2. Are you planning to move one of New Hampshire's two NASCAR Nextel Cup Series dates to Las Vegas?
Ever since Smith announced Nov. 2 he was purchasing the New Hampshire track from Bob and Gary Bahre for $340 million, the latter question has had race fans in New England fearful that Smith might strip the track of one or both of its Cup dates, which have produced 26 consecutive sellouts in Loudon.
In one of his first acts as New Hampshire's new head honcho, the 46-year-old Gappens said last night by phone from Charlotte, N.C., "I promise you I didn't take the job to give anything we have away."
Gappens said Smith seemed committed to making the facility "bigger and better," which has been SMI's track record with its six other properties: Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.; Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth; Atlanta Motor Speedway; Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway; Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.; and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"When we sat down face to face, he had engineers and architects working on things that Monday morning after we returned from Texas," Gappens said. "Then, the second part, obviously, was about the dates, and he told me that Bob and Gary had built a successful fan base and he said he'd have a hard time justifying moving anything.
"He's made it clear that he needs a second date for Las Vegas but it doesn't necessarily mean that it has to come from New Hampshire. I don't think you mess with a successful formula."
A 25-year veteran of the industry, Gappens has spent the last 15 years at SMI, building a successful track record of promotion at Lowe's Motor Speedway, where he started in 1993 as publicity director. He was promoted to director of communications in 1995 and named vice president of promotions and public relations in 1996. In 2002, Gappens was named NASCAR's most valuable public relations representative, and three years later, he was promoted to senior vice president of events and marketing.
A native of Windfall, Ind., Gappens gained an appreciation for short-track racing from watching his parents promote events at a short track in Terre Haute. Given his background, Gappens said, he would not rule out the return of open-wheel racing to Loudon.
He also expects to continue New Hampshire's "deep tradition of motorcycle racing" with the Loudon Classic, and saw no reason the track couldn't continue to serve as a showcase for regional series such as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the Busch East Series.
"I have an appreciation for that level of racing and I don't take that lightly," Gappens said. "If our facility can serve as a showcase for those series, we would like to continue to explore that."
Gappens emphasized his intention to keep everything he inherited with the New Hampshire job: specifically, its two Cup dates.
"My job as general manager is to do everything humanly possible to make it bigger and better," Gappens said.
"People think that Bruton bought this track just to take one of the dates, and that's not accurate. As long as the fan base is there and people are buying tickets, everything's in good shape.
"My message to all the race fans in New England is to give Bruton a chance. He's a guy with a vision for the place."
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