Divorce is messy business, even in the racing world

Editor's note: Joe Menzer is filling in this week for David Caraviello, who is out on vacation.

CONCORD, N.C. -- Oftentimes in life, what is seen or projected in public in a marriage is not how it really is behind closed doors, in private.

This is true even in marriages -- in fact, sometimes especially so in marriages -- that have lasted for more than three decades.

In retrospect, that appears to be the case in the business marriage between Bruton Smith and H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, which came apart at the seams in a surprisingly but very public way earlier this week, on the eve of this Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

As chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., Smith is the de facto owner of not only LMS but seven other tracks (well, six plus one that he has agreed to purchase and won't technically own until the deal closes in the third quarter of this year). Wheeler, since 1976, was the man who ran LMS for him.

SMI buys Kentucky

Bruton Smith announced Thursday that SMI purchased Kentucky Speedway and wants a Cup race in '09.

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But they always seemed so much more than owner and employee, boss and underling. They seemed, in the big scheme of the NASCAR world, as almost equals.

Obviously, they weren't. When Wheeler announced last Wednesday that he would be retiring almost immediately from the job he has held for nearly 33 years, Smith wasn't even in attendance at the news conference. Smith later said that the news conference originally was scheduled for next Wednesday and smugly added that he hadn't really been invited by Wheeler to the rescheduled one.

One day later, Smith -- who originally had claimed through his son, Marcus, that he did not attend Wheeler's retirement announcement because he was not feeling well -- suddenly felt perky enough to spearhead his own news conference, announcing SMI's agreement to purchase Kentucky Speedway. The heads of several of Smith's other tracks were in attendance. Wheeler was conspicuously missing.

Clearly, this is not how either man envisioned Wheeler, the master showman and race promoter, going out at the track he has overseen for more than three decades.

What's next?

The overwhelming odds-on favorite to replace Wheeler is Marcus Smith, one of Bruton's three sons. The 34-year-old Marcus talked benevolently of Wheeler on Thursday, saying he has soaked up all kinds of advice from Uncle Humpy through the years and implying that he intends to put it all to good use in the future.

"I've been really been happy to have the wisdom and time with Humpy, and for him to take time to give me some of his wisdom and the nuggets of fun that he passes along to the many, many people in his path every day. That's really been a great privilege of mine," Marcus said. (Continued)