Three Motorsports Stocks

High-speed racing action by world class drivers at historic and state-of-the art race tracks has made NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) Nextel Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck races among the most popular sporting events in the United States. Week and week NASCAR drivers chase the Nextel Cup points championship before sold out crowds and large TV audiences.

Investors can have a piece of the action by owning shares of three speedway owners and operators: International Speedway Corp. (ISCA), Speedway Motorsports Inc. (TRK), and Dover Motorsports, Inc. (DVD).

International Speedway Corp. (ISC) is the largest of the three. It owns and/or operates the following racing facilities: Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Michigan International Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, California Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, North Carolina Speedway Carolina, Darlington Raceway, Watkins Glen International York and Nazareth Speedway (soon to be closed). Also it owns an interest in Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 Raceway in Illinois. All facilities but Nazareth Speedway and Route 66 Raceway host NASCAR Nextel Cup races. In addition to the tracks International Speedway owns Motor Racing Network, a motorsports radio network and DAYTONA USA, a motorsports entertainment complex. ISC recently bought Martinsville Speedway, the host of two Nextel Cup races.

Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. The six tracks host NASCAR Nextel Cup races. SMI recently purchased the North Carolina Speedway, located in Rockingham, NC from ISC. Beginning 2005 Rockingham will have no Nextel Cup races.

Dover Motorsports, Inc. owns and operates Dover International Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Gateway International Raceway, and Memphis Motorsports Park. Only Dover International Speedway hosts a Nextel Cup race. Click for pictures of the June 6, 2004 MBMA 400 at Dover.

The three stocks did exceptionally well in the late 1990s as NASCAR racing become popular through televised races and the construction of new tracks and seating expansion at existing tracks. ISCA and TRK have traded sideways since their peaks in 1999. DVD collapsed from the mid teens in early 2002 and is trading under $5 as of May 24, 2004.

Future revenue and earnings growth for the three companies may be possible by seat expansion, increased television revenues, ticket price increases, increased vending revenues and additional race dates.