The man who owns the place proudly walked into the Kentucky Speedway media center Friday and let his entertaining comments fly with his usual flare.

Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., is one of a kind. He put on quite a show for the folks at the track who haven't seen or heard his act in the past.

"Welcome to Kentucky, folks," he said. "You want to participate in the largest Cup race of the year? Here it is."

The old codger even took on the Kentucky Derby: "We will outdraw this horsey race you're talking about."

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 107,000 is expected for the inaugural Sprint Cup race at Kentucky on Saturday night. The Kentucky Derby is said to draw 150,000 each year.

"That's a lie," Smith said. "They don't have the parking for that many people. And they'd be sitting on top of each other inside."

Smith did admit his speedway has one major issue Saturday night: traffic.

"It's going to be a problem," he said. "We expect everyone to be home by Tuesday. Don't get on [Interstate 71, next to the track]. Pick another number, any number, and get on that road."

That was just the beginning as Smith held court while reporters quickly typed every bombastic word.

Here are a few examples of his interesting comments on various topics:

• On whether he would consider buying Indianapolis Motor Speedway: "Maybe, who knows. Some things happen sometimes when we least expect it."

• On the less-than-impressive infield buildings at Kentucky Speedway: "My desire is to tear all this down and take all the pieces to Darrell [Waltrip's] house."

• Bruton on repaving Kentucky: "Some want it, some don't. That's only talk. I don't think it's next year, but maybe the year after."

• On Chicagoland Speedway: "They would have a lot more people there if they would open up the prison on race day. Do you know someone comes up missing in Chicago every 30 minutes? That's the truth."

• On whether NASCAR owes him a Cup date: "I'd say they owe me more than one. They've never given me a date. Haven't I been good to NASCAR?"

• On possibly putting a dome over Bristol Motor Speedway: "I can't do it. I tried. I talked to two different architect design companies about it. The said a roof that big couldn't support all the snow and ice."

• On why he didn't build a racetrack at the Meadowlands in New Jersey: "Because whatever you build there has to be approved by the Giants."

• On adding light at New Hampshire Motor Speedway: "We will be working diligently on changing that to get it done."

• On the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May: "The largest crowd we've had in seven years. And next year will be bigger."

When all the questions were done, Smith moved on to the next item on his schedule with a little wink through his Hollywood-style, gold sunglasses, content that he had played his part to the hilt.