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SceneDaily.com
05/21/2008 - 05:41 PM
Charlotte, NC
Humpy Wheeler, the President and General Manager of NASCAR's Lowe's Motor Speedway announces plans to retire. Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images) ยป More Photos
Humpy Wheeler didn’t want to have a drawn-out retirement party, but he did seem a little uncomfortable with the way his retirement was announced four days before the Coca-Cola 600, the final race for the president of Lowe’s Motor Speedway and parent company Speedway Motorsports Inc.
Wheeler, who had been with the company for 35 years, said that while his retirement has been discussed for several months, there were some “other factors” for the timing of his departure that he wouldn’t delve into.
“Some of it’s on my own terms,” Wheeler said Wednesday during a news conference at the track. “I won’t say it all is. But some of it is. And I will let it rest at that.”
Wheeler will have no role with the track after this weekend.
SMI Chairman Bruton Smith was not there, but his son Marcus said his father was under the weather and not to read anything into his father’s not being there. Marcus Smith said, “There is no easy time to take a step” out of a role such as the one that Wheeler had.
“He’s been under the weather,” Marcus Smith said of his father. “I don’t think he wanted to take anything away from the day today. It was a great time to listen to Humpy recount some stories, and I enjoyed it.”
In talking about his future, Wheeler said he is going to write a book and also could be available if NASCAR wants him. He said he talked to NASCAR officials this morning.“I probably will be available to do that,” Wheeler said about the possibility of working or consulting for NASCAR. “I’ve had a close
relationship with them for a long time. I talked to Brian [France, NASCAR chairman] and Mike [Helton, NASCAR president] this morning, and so I feel like there’s a lot of challenges there.
“We’ll just have to see. I want to take a little bit of time off after this race, that’s the main thing.”
Wheeler said he is concerned about whether the best drivers reach NASCAR because of financial constraints and lack of sponsorship. He also is concerned about the racing and teams relying on computer-based programs to do car setups.
“The current condition of the car of tomorrow concerns me a great deal, as it does many people,” Wheeler said. “… That car has become a very difficult thing to get around the race track, and I’m not sure that those guys in the garage area can fix it themselves.
“I think NASCAR is probably going to have to do something to that car to make it work better, particularly on the intermediate tracks.”
He also said race tracks must hire “racers” to run their race tracks and get fans through the ticket gates.
“We need racers running the sport,” Wheeler said. “In some cases, that’s not happening right now, and it’s creating some problems.”
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