North Carolina Motor Speedway NASCAR Track

The George S. May International Company faced a situation somewhat different in our work at the racetrack owned by the DeWitts.

Following the death of Mr. DeWitt, Vice President Frank Wilson, who was a strong promoter and head of operations for the track, was named president. Mr. Wilson died in 1994, however, and L.G. DeWitt's other daughter, Jo DeWitt Wilson (no relation to Frank Wilson) took control of the Speedway - a major track on the NASCAR circuit.

North Carolina Motor Speedway presents unique management challenges because it runs two weeks per year - Winston Cup races in October and February. During those weeks the track employs about 700 workers. The rest of the year, it has only 10 permanent employees, who run operations so that the facility can be leased to others, including a driving school, go-cart associations and motorcycle groups.

The track was profitable during this transition period, but daughter Jo, who assumed the presidency, was determined to improve the track's bottom-line profitability. She and Chris Browning, track general manager, developed a $5.5 million capital expenditure budget that included new grandstands, a news media center and garage, improved restrooms, a new scoring stand, VIP lounges, a press box and other upgrades. She also invited George S. May International Company to review operations.

Our consultants returned to North Carolina to work with Jo DeWitt Wilson and her staff at the Speedway. Major changes soon took place. The company counseled the client to move from a totally manual accounting system to a computerized system. The Speedway also installed a state-of-the-art ticketing system, and made it more convenient for racing fans by accepting credit cards for both tickets and souvenirs.

To bring a more contemporary feel to the track, Jo Wilson applied her background in retailing to update the track's drab color scheme.

"We're running the track more like a business now," says Jo. "Responsibilities are departmentalized and jobs are specific. We needed the organization."

The best measurement of the results of these changes shows up in ticket sales and revenues. Tickets for the races were sold out months before the event, instead of weeks before as had been the case. Revenues increased 22 percent over the previous year.

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