Marcus Graham Smith (born April 11, 1973) is an American businessman. He is best known as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI), an organization that owns or operates 11 racetracks across the United States. Smith, being the heir of his father, Bruton Smith, had previously worked for SMI at various positions within the organization before being officially promoted to becoming CEO in 2015.

Smith was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. Initially wanting to train to become a doctor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he later dropped out and joined his father's company, working at the Charlotte Motor Speedway's marketing team as a sales associate. He later was promoted to the manager of new business development of the speedway in 1999. In 2004, he was reassigned to the track's parent company, SMI, to become their head of sales and marketing. Four years later, Smith was promoted to become the president of SMI and was also put in charge to run the Charlotte Motor Speedway, replacing longtime promoter Humpy Wheeler in a controversial transition. In 2015, Smith was promoted to become the SMI's CEO, essentially taking over control of the company from his father.

Under his leadership at SMI, Smith oversaw numerous changes within the company. In 2019, he took SMI off of the New York Stock Exchange, turning the company into a private company. Throughout 2021 and 2022, with monetary assistance from COVID-19 relief grants from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, he made efforts to revitalize the North Wilkesboro Speedway, which had been left desolate since the late 1990s when his father bought partial control of the track along with Bob Bahre. He has also directed numerous changes in an attempt to reverse declining attendance at some racetracks, including holding the NASCAR Cup Series' first ever dirt race since 1970 at the Bristol Motor Speedway, ordering the reconfiguration of the Atlanta Motor Speedway to produce pack racing, and by holding a "roval" race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In contrast to his father, Speed Sport writer Keith Waltz considers Marcus to be "not as boisterous or flamboyant". Marcus has drawn praise for a focus on fan experience and interaction and for revitalizing the North Wilkesboro Speedway, one of NASCAR's founding tracks. However, his tenure has seen continued decline at SMI racetracks despite numerous changes formulated to increase attendance, along with criticism from drivers and media outlets for repaves of certain tracks.

Early life and education Smith was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 11, 1973, to Ollen Bruton Smith (1927–2022) and Bonnie Jean Harris (1947–2023). He is the second-oldest of five children. According to Bruton, his middle name was given as "Graham" to honor Reverend Billy Graham, a famous Southern Baptist evangelist from the Charlotte area.

Smith attended Charlotte Country Day School, where he was a wrestler. In his off time during high school, he worked as a volunteer at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, doing numerous jobs, including grass maintenance, painting walls, and picking up trash. By the summer of 1992, Smith committed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) to train as a doctor from 1992 to 1996. However, according to the university, UNC stated that Smith did not earn a degree and dropped out.

Business career

Beginnings at Charlotte Motor Speedway According to Marcus, after dropping out of college, he joined the Charlotte Motor Speedway's sales and marketing team as a first-year sales associate, mainly selling souvenir program advertisements and contingency decals for cars. While working at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he frequently came into contact with the track's general manager, Humpy Wheeler, who he later stated on an episode of The Dale Jr. Download that he was "phenomenally impactful" to him. He did not see his father often as his office was located at the nearby Town and Country Ford dealership, owned by Bruton. Marcus initially struggled at the job; within the first six months, he struggled to cover his expenses. When he called Bruton to request a raise, Bruton stated that he could have a raise, and "all you have to do is sell more and you can earn more money". To Marcus, the statement took "a load off my shoulders", as he wanted to "earn [the money]", and did not "want something given to me that I didn't earn or don't deserve". By 1999, he became the speedway's manager of new business development.

On February 19, 2004, he was reassigned to the Charlotte Motor Speedway's parent company, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) to serve as the company's executive vice president of sales and marketing. In addition, he was also added to the company's board of directors. By February 2005, he was claimed by the News & Record'''s Dustin Long as in position to replace Bruton when Bruton retired. Marcus was also stated to "communicate better with NASCAR's leader", Bill France Jr., who at the time had gotten into a fierce lawsuit with Bruton over a second NASCAR Cup Series race date at the Texas Motor Speedway, deepening the rivalry between the Smith and France families. In August of that year, he partnered with the France family's International Speedway Corporation (ISC) for the two companies to buy out Action Performance, a motorsports merchandise company with Smith and Lesa France Kennedy serving on the company's board of directors.

Speedway Motorsports ascension On May 21, 2008, Humpy Wheeler announced his departure from the speedway that was later revealed to be due to internal disagreements with Bruton Smith over the last several years, a decision that was seen as a surprise within the NASCAR landscape. By the next day, The Charlotte Observer reported that Smith had become the favorite to replace Wheeler. On May 28, Bruton officially announced that Marcus had been promoted to take over for Wheeler. Along with this, Marcus was also promoted within SMI to become the company's president and chief operating officer (COO). Within his first year, SMI, mainly due to the consequences of the Great Recession, oversaw a sharp decline in revenue and the company's stock price. Smith also oversaw the loss of sponsor Lowe's from Charlotte in 2009, who had naming rights to the speedway over the last decade. The next year, Smith announced the creation of a Christmas lights drive-thru show at the speedway, one of the biggest in the country at the time. By the end of that year, The Charlotte Observer writer Ron Stodghill wrote in an opinion piece that "the guy seems to have a surprisingly firm grip at the wheel... [he] is emerging as a passionate leader". In 2011, Smith directed the construction of a 200 foot by 80 foot television screen on the speedway's backstretch, one of the biggest HD screens in the world.

Promotion to CEO, unsuccessful attempt at Charlotte MLS expansion team In February 2015, Marcus was realigned by SMI's board of directors to take over the position of chief executive officer (CEO), a position that was previously held by Bruton. With the move, he essentially took over control of the company from his father. Later that year, he was criticized for maintaining New Hampshire Motor Speedway general manager Jerry Gappens despite Gappens pleading guilty to a lewdness charge with a 19-year old woman in Gappens' car. According to Smith, he was kept because he had "been with [SMI] a long time with a great record... we consider our co-workers like family. We're extending forgiveness and praying for he and his family, hoping things work out there. And that's what our decision was driven by". The next year, he announced intentions to renovate Charlotte Motor Speedway, along with a statement that said that the Smiths were interested in buying the Carolina Panthers, a National Football League (NFL) team.

In late 2016, Marcus and Bruton made a bid for a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion team in Charlotte with support from local business leaders. The bid initially proposed demolishing the American Legion Memorial Stadium and the Grady Cole Center to build a new $150 million, 20,000 seat stadium, with the Smiths asking for $50 million each from the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. By January 20, the Smiths lowered their asking price for both parties to $43.75 million each, with the Smiths now pledging to invest $87.5 million. While the Mecklenburg County Council approved their funding on January 26 with a 5–3 vote, the proposal drew criticism from the Charlotte City Council and Jim McPhilliamy, who owned the Charlotte Independence, a minor league soccer team. By January 31, the MLS's deadline for new bids passed with the city of Charlotte refusing to hold a vote on the matter. However, despite this, Mecklenburg County still wanted to decide to pledge nearly $120 million into the bid, albeit plans on future county spending were still under negotiation.

Four months later, on May 28, The Charlotte Observer reported that no further progress was made between the Smiths and the city of Charlotte, with the Smiths instead relying on the county government's funding plan. On June 12, Mecklenburg County delayed their decision until at least August, with some county commissioners hesitant to vote for the funding unless the city supported it. By the end of June, The Charlotte Observer reported a reinvigorated marketing effort from Marcus, with Marcus directing the creation of a campaign website. In mid-July, MLS officials toured Charlotte over several days; however, both city council and county commissioners canceled their meetings during the tour. At the same time, a rival bid from neighboring city Raleigh was also made with state government support, with both cities appearing on a 12-city shortlist. On August 3, the Mecklenburg County Council voted against the $120 million contribution, deferring the issue to the city of Charlotte, with the city giving $30 million being "far from certain". Later that month, the city declined to vote on the issue. On October 24, Katherine Peralta of The Charlotte Observer reported that the effort was "officially dead" as an agreement for a combination of private and public could not be reached by December, the deadline for the MLS. By November 30, when the MLS narrowed its shortlist to four cities, Charlotte did not appear, officially killing the Smiths' bid.

Battling declining attendance and revenue, revitalization of North Wilkesboro Speedway