Bruton Smith: Career began on his front lawn

When Automotive News in 2007 asked Bruton Smith to describe himself, he replied: "I'm just an average guy who's been very fortunate."

Yet Smith's automotive retail career, intertwined with the motorsports industry, was anything but average.

Smith was the co-founder of Sonic Automotive Inc., a NASCAR Hall of Famer, racetrack owner and philanthropist who got his start selling used cars from his front lawn as a teenager.

Smith sold his first car, a 1939 Buick sedan, eking out a small profit. He promoted his first race before he was 18.

Those experiences were harbingers for Smith, who died in June.

Smith was among the first dealers to build a public dealership group. Along with one of his sons, Scott Smith, Bruton Smith launched Sonic Automotive as a public company in November 1997 with 20 dealerships. Today, Sonic is the seventh-largest new-vehicle retailer in the U.S., with 111 franchised dealerships after completing the mega acquisition of RFJ Auto Partners Holdings Inc. in 2021. Sonic also owns and operates more than 50 EchoPark used-vehicle-only locations.

Smith once described taking dealerships public as the "wave of the future."

"These things require so much money today that you almost have to go public," he told Automotive News in 2007. "Or you have to have eight or 10 rich uncles that pass away and leave you a huge inheritance."

Smith also was a leader in racing circles. He helped turn stock car racing into a multibillion-dollar business and launched Speedway Motorsports Inc., which was the first motorsports company to go public, in 1995. The company, which went private in 2019, owns and operates several NASCAR tracks.

His work ethic was admired, and Smith into his 90s remained active overseeing Sonic and Speedway Motorsports' operations as executive chairman of both companies, a position he held at both since 2015. He previously was CEO of the companies.

And while he had a few feuds in the racing business over the years, Smith also was known for his business poise.

Sonic Automotive President Jeff Dyke recalled Smith's calm demeanor during the Great Recession. Sonic's stock price fell below $1 a share, its sales sunk and bankruptcy was discussed as the company's auditors doubted Sonic could continue as a "going concern."

"He never even blinked during that whole thing," Dyke told Automotive News in 2018. "It was just a nonevent for him."