Larry Carrier (NASCAR) RIP

For the Nascar fans-this guy was the co-founder of Bristol Motor Speedway.
Article found in rec.autos.sport.nascar. thanks to the original poster-

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June 7, 2005

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Larry Carrier, who helped start the race track now
known as Bristol Motor Speedway, died Tuesday after a long
illness. He was 82.

A developer, Carrier worked with Carl Moore and R.G. Pope in building the
half-mile oval track, which opened in 1961. Carrier bought the track out of
bankruptcy in 1985, gave ESPN exclusive rights to broadcast Bristol's night
race for years, and built the seating capacity to 71,000 before selling the
track to Bruton Smith in 1996 for $26 million. Bristol now seats 160,000 and
hosts two NASCAR Nextel Cup races each
year.

Carrier and Moore also built the Bristol International Dragway and started
their own sanctioning body, the International Hot Rod Association, in 1965.
The dragway was part of the sale in 1996.

Jeff Byrd, president and general manager of Bristol, called Carrier a leader
in the racing industry whose contributions were monumental.

``He had the foresight to know that NASCAR was going to be something big
and he went out and built one of the greatest facilities of that time in
1961,'' Byrd said.

``He will certainly be missed by all that were fortunate enough to know him
or work with him. Our thoughts and prayers are with Shirley and the entire
Carrier family.''

Carrier is a member of both the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the Drag
Racing Hall of Fame. He is survived by his wife, Shirley, and four children.
Carrier's
funeral was scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church in
Blountville, with burial on Friday.

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