Former Speedway Owners Not Giving Up Lawsuit

WILL GRAVES

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — One of the former owners of Kentucky Motor Speedway says he won't be forced into dropping an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR by new track owner Bruton Smith.

Richard Duchossios said Thursday he's not sure why Smith has decided to go public with claims that the former owners have a "moral obligation" to race fans in Kentucky to drop the four-year-old lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp.

"I'm not going to be bullied," Duchossios said.

Smith purchased the track last year for $78.3 million after the original ownership group tried unsuccessfully for almost a decade to land a coveted Sprint Cup race.

Smith, the owner of Speedway Motorsports Inc., is in the process of giving the venue a $70 million facelift with the goal of finally bringing a Cup race to the area. Kentucky is the eighth NASCAR-sanctioned track in SMI's portfolio, but the only one without a Cup date.

SMI recently asked NASCAR to consider Kentucky for the 2010 Cup schedule, but the sanctioning body will not act on any proposals until the former owners drop their antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and ISC, its sister company.