No topic off limits to Smith

SPARTA, Ky. -- To borrow an old slogan from a famous brokerage house commercial, "When Bruton Smith speaks; people listen."

Well, maybe not everybody listens to what the octogenarian chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. has to say but those in auto racing certainly do.

And Saturday at Kentucky Speedway, site of a thrilling IndyCar Series race won by Ryan Briscoe after he edged "Cinderella Story" Ed Carpenter at the checkered flag by just .0162-seconds -- the 11th closest finish in IndyCar Series history -- Smith had plenty to say.

And he wasn't playing any favorites as Smith criticized both the IndyCar Series and NASCAR on a variety of wide-ranging topics.

When Smith enters a room, he has almost a "Godfather-like" presence. Some have even joked a chill in the wind precedes his appearance as if the "Prince of Darkness" is about to arrive.

But to a columnist, a chat with Smith is like mining verbal gold because he's going to say something memorable, witty and bitingly sarcastic all at the same time.

And he fired a direct hit on the 2010 IndyCar Series schedule which, for the first time in series history, will have more street and road races than oval-track contests.

Smith was one of the first supporters of the Indy Racing League when it began competition as an "all-oval series" in 1996. He added Texas Motor Speedway and what was then Charlotte Motor Speedway to the schedule the following season and was sold on the concept of American race drivers coming from grass-roots backgrounds in an oval-racing series.

When asked his thoughts on IndyCar having more road races than ovals, Smith was highly critical.

"It's a mistake that's going to bite them in the rear, eventually," Smith said. "History is going to repeat itself. I don't know who is making those decisions but they will find it was not the proper decision in my very humble opinion.