Speedway Motorsports chairman Bruton Smith will make a "major announcement" today in Texas amid widespread speculation that he is purchasing New Hampshire International Speedway.

Officials at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth said that Smith had scheduled a news conference for this morning at the track. Texas is one of six tracks Smith owns and where the NASCAR Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Trucks series run this weekend.

Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage would say only that Smith would make a "major announcement."

The Boston Globe first reported Thursday that Smith had agreed to purchase the New Hampshire track, New England's largest sports venue. There were several other reports Thursday, including the Charlotte Observer saying the deal had been completed.

Bob Bahre, 80, this year discussed selling the New Hampshire track to Boston Red Sox owner John Henry. Bahre, one of the rare independent owner/operators, said then that he'd had contact with several potential buyers. Bahre purchased Bryar Motorsports Park in 1989 and turned it into a one-mile superspeedway the next year.

Smith's acquisition of the New Hampshire track could eventually lead to a second NASCAR date and a spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup schedule for Las Vegas, one of the other tracks Smith owns. It also could allow Texas to have an earlier date in the Chase.

Such changes couldn't occur until at least 2009 because next year's schedule is already set.

Bahre and Smith purchased North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina in the mid-1990s, then moved the two Cup dates that were run there to their tracks.

SKINNER TAKES TRUCKS POLE: Mike Skinner matched two qualifying records and extended another Thursday night with a pole-winning run for the Craftsman Truck Series' Silverado 350K.

Skinner, four points behind championship leader Ron Hornaday Jr. with three races left, drove his Toyota around the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway with a fast lap speed of 184.137 mph.

The pole was Skinner's 10th of the season, matching the series record the Californian established in 1995 during the series inaugural season. It was Skinner's fifth pole at Texas Motor Speedway, duplicating Jack Sprague s record for poles at a track set at Phoenix International Raceway.

Hornaday qualified eighth in his Chevrolet at 182.735. Chad McCumbee had a speed of 184.018 to gain the No. 2 spot for his Chevy.

ANDRETTI GREEN HIRES MUTOH: Hideki Mutoh, 25, the Indy Pro Series rookie of the year, will take Dario Franchitti's spot with Andretti Green Racing in 2008.

Franchitti will drive in the NASCAR Cup series with Chip Ganassi Racing next season.

Mutoh, from Tokyo, had 13 top-10 finishes -- including two wins -- in 15 starts last season in the Indy Pro Series, the IRL's developmental program.