Officials from the National Hot Rod Association have told Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com that there is no truth to the Internet-circulated rumor that Bruton Smith is in the process of purchasing the organization and/or its assets. They acknowledge that Smith and NHRA president Tom Compton did meet at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during last weekend’s Summitracing.com Nationals, but portray that meeting as nothing more than a normal get together between the sanctioning body president and the owner of any track at which a national event is being staged. Officials from the National Hot Rod Association have told Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com that there is no truth to the Internet-circulated rumor that Bruton Smith is in the process of purchasing the organization and/or its assets. They acknowledge that Smith and NHRA president Tom Compton did meet at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during last weekend’s Summitracing.com Nationals, but portray that meeting as nothing more than a normal get together between the sanctioning body president and the owner of any track at which a national event is being staged. 
 
Despite what’s appeared on other websites, there is also no truth to the idea that IMG has become a “partner” with NHRA in anything other than a joint marketing effort. IMG has yet to assign an individual to work in the NHRA headquarters office in Glendora, and sources close to IMG suggest that this may be a junior- to mid-level executive, not a senior program manager. 
 
Regarding the construction of the new tower at NHRA-owned Gainesville Raceway in Florida, the edifice was originally conceived and designed as a three-story building with track offices on the first floor, race control and meeting rooms on the second and media facilities on the third. There was never any plan on the part of NHRA to include VIP suites in the building as has been erroneously reported elsewhere.