New signage has been put up at Bruton Smith's track in Charlotte. Lowe's will no longer pay to have its name on the track, thus the track has reverted to "Charlotte Motor Speedway."
When Lowe's purchased the name several years ago, I hated the idea. It isn't that I dislike Lowe's, I dislike all corporate names on sporting stadiums or tracks.
Why? Well, there are several reasons.
One reason is that Nascar tends to rename every event from the inception of the sport with the corporate name. All Champions are now Sprint Cup Champions, even if they never raced under the Sprint sponsorship. Granted there is difficulty in referring to a name that no longer exists or that has evolved over the years, but the way to fix this is to keep the same name for the long term.
After the sponsorship is over, the public has to learn a new name for the event or venue. Why not just name it permanently and leave it alone. If venues are named after local heros or after people who contribute to have it built, great. But the name should not change with every market crash or upswing.
In any event, I am delighted to welcome back Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is exactly what I've tried to call it during its brief turn as "Lowe's." Curtis Turner must be smiling.
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