Not since Bruton Smith turned the lights on at Charlotte has a race track announced such radical plans to host an event – and in this case, two events.

The Hav-A-Tampa Series for dirt late models will run a two-night program June 2-3, 2000, with the Pennzoil World of Outlaws for winged sprint cars competing on Bristol’s banks a week later, June 9-10.

"Even I think this is a pretty wild idea," said O. Bruton Smith, Speedway Motorsports chairman and CEO. "Our superspeedways have, or are building, dirt short tracks to host these racing series in Charlotte, Texas and Las Vegas. But Bristol already has the most popular short track with all the amenities any race fan could want. Our people say we can put the dirt right on top of Bristol’s concrete, the same surface that makes for great, legendary NASCAR shows. Just imagine what it’s going to be like to see these cars under the Bristol lights."

After weeks of research and inquiries with competitors, area dirt track owners and fan focus groups, World of Outlaws President Ted Johnson visited the speedway on October 11. He reviewed plans with track officials, the speedway’s development department and contractors. "It can be done," said Johnson, "and will make a spectacular show. We made a couple of adjustments to plans for putting dirt on the track, such as increasing the width of the racing groove.

"Our racers are really excited about it," said Johnson. "The thing they keep saying is, ‘How does Bristol feel about hosting cars that are going to run 15-to-20 mph faster than the NASCAR cars run?’ The guys who are really excited about it are the NASCAR guys who used to run our series, guys like Tony Stewart, Kenny Irwin, Ken Schrader, Jeff Gordon, John Andretti and Dave Blaney. They say, ‘You’re going to do what?’"

Mike Swims, President, United Dirt Track Racing Association (UDTRA), sanctioning body of the Hav-A-Tampa Series’, said, "My biggest question is just how many cars will show up to run the Hav-A-Tampa Series race, because every driver we’ve talked to about this says he’s coming. I wonder if it will be 60 cars, 80 cars, or more than 100 trying to make the 24-car field. Everybody who has a dirt late model car plans to be in Bristol in June. This is the most exciting announcement for our kind of racing in years. This event is one that no dirt racing fan will want to miss.

"The Southeast is a hotbed for our kind of racing, dirt late model racing, and so many of our devoted fans live within a half-day’s drive of Bristol. This is going to be more than a race; it’s going to be a happening. From the day the racers heard that there was a chance for our cars to run the banks of Bristol Motor Speedway, it’s all they’ve wanted to talk about. It’s not a question of whether this event is going to be big. It’s a question of just how big is it going to be."

Conversion from concrete surface to dirt will begin in mid-May, giving the BMS development team the opportunity to roll out the dirt surface and condition it for the two weeks of racing. As soon as the World of Outlaws feature ends, the real challenge begins – the post-race cleanup – in order to get the track ready for the August lineup of NASCAR night races.

"This first time out, we’re going to say it will take a month to clean the track, apron, walls and grandstands of the dirt," said Scott Hatcher, director of Development. "We plan to stockpile the dirt on our property so that we can bring it back in for the 2001 dirt races."

The Pennzoil World of Outlaws, entering its 23^rd season in 2000, took sprint car racing from tracks in the Midwest and made it a national touring racing sensation. All of its regular open-wheel, mud-slinging, winged warriors will come to Bristol, including Mark and Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Danny Lasoski.