Following the trend of big announcements this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Thursday Bruton Smith, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) announced the purchase of the Kentucky Speedway.

The chairman and CEO of SMI explained this deal was one of the best he had ever made, explaining, "This area is a hot-bed of racing, they love what they do and I think you'll see us do some spectacular things there and that's what I expect to do. It will be extremely profitable for our company and that's why I'm excited."

Although financial terms were not disclosed, Smith admitted this purchase was much different than his recent purchase of New Hampshire International Speedway. SMI purchased the assets of the Kentucky Speedway, but not Kentucky Speedway LLC, the group of investors that previously owned the speedway.

"I think what we are doing here for Speedway Motorsports is the biggest announcement we have ever, ever made," Smith explained Thursday, "mainly because of what we are doing and where we are doing it. I am delighted to tell you that, yes, we have purchased Kentucky Speedway. We have been working on this for a little while. This is a great speedway. I have been there. I like it a lot. And will we make changes" You got that right! It's beautiful, gorgeous, and it's our duty now to make it better."

The Kentucky Speedway, located in Sparta, Ky., is a 1.5-mile tri-oval speedway that currently holds a NASCAR Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series race, and has been fighting with NASCAR for years to secure a Cup Series date. According to Smith, that wait is over.

The always confident Smith quite clearly that he expected to have a Cup Series date at the Kentucky Speedway by next season. "We will be working on [securing a date], but we are not here to announce that today," Smith said. Where that date will come from is still unknown, but Smith has not ruled out purchasing another track in order to secure a date.

When asked about his interest in purchasing the Pocono Raceway, Smith responded by saying, "I don't believe I can answer that properly, I'm always interested in a speedway - If I say anything about Pocono, it would indicate to you that it was for sale. I don't know if it's for sale or not. But if you're telling me it is, I'll make the phone call tomorrow."

Smith admitted there are certain things that need to be addressed before the speedway receives a Cup date including problems with seepage on the track, creating additional seating and improving fan amenities. As far as seats are concerned, Smith plans to add 50,000 seats within the next couple months.

The Kentucky Speedway has been at the center of one of the most public legal disputes in all of NASCAR. The previous owners have battled hard with NASCAR and the International Speedway Corporation in an attempt to secure a Cup Series date for nearly eight years. In 2005, the Kentucky Speedway filed litigation against NASCAR and ISC claiming they were in violation of federal anti-trust laws. According to Jerry Carroll, who was on hand to represent Kentucky Speedway LLC, that lawsuit is on-going and has not changed because of this purchase.

Carroll, who will maintain ownership in Kentucky Speedway LLC, said he never had any intention to sell the speedway and described it as 'bittersweet', but explained that he had to do what was best to ensure a Cup date at the 1.5-mile track. "I had a dream on this speedway, the state of Kentucky joined in on that dream and fortunately for us Bruton Smith is able to make the dream come true."

"One of the great things about Bruton Smith that I found is that he delivers," Carroll went on to say, "Yes he will deliver a race; he will bring a race next year. I do not have any idea where it is coming from, but when he tells me he's going to bring a race, we would not have done this deal if we did not think Bruton would bring a race"

Carroll commented the addition of a Cup date would, "be bigger than the Super Bowl." He explained his reasoning by saying NASCAR fans stay in the area longer than they do for the Super Bowl, there are simply more people coming to the area and they are more willing to go to the event than watch it on television. "We feel the ripple effect is at least $140 million to the state and the income."

Be sure to tune into HardcoreRaceFans.com for more news on this story as it develops.