While the consumption of cigarettes is neither healthy nor politically correct these days, the fact remains that tobacco is big, big money, both from what it reaps and what it sows.

That's why R.J. Reynolds has had such a stranglehold on the major leagues of stock car racing for over 30 years, spending hundreds of millions of dollars over that time period to keep its brand name Winston cigarettes prominently linked with NASCAR.

It's no secret that RJR's Winston Cup championship has made multimillionaires of NASCAR's first family, the France family. RJR reportedly drops well over $30 million per year into NASCAR's coffers (and no, we're not talking about smoking-related coughers) each season to keep its name so prominently displayed and linked with America's No. 1 motorsports series.

The Winston, RJR's all-star marquis event -- and which the company takes tremendous pride in hosting -- has grown in popularity and notoriety since its debut in 1985. And for the last 16 years of The Winston's 17-year history, the race has been contested at Lowe's Motor Speedway in suburban Charlotte.

But because of dirty politics that make a butt-filled ashtray look appetizingly clean, NASCAR has begun overtures to move The Winston away from LMS and more specifically away from track owner Bruton Smith, who has arguably been one of the biggest thorns in NASCAR's side in the last decade.

It has been Smith and right-hand man Humpy Wheeler who have made The Winston what it is, the premier all-star event in motorsports today. Their promotion, aggressive marketing, installation of lights at LMS, as well as countless other improvements to the facility have made The Winston and its fans feel right at home -- as if the race was born to be there.

But NASCAR now says it wants to turn The Winston into an event that will rotate from one track to another each year, beginning as early as 2003 -- logistics of such a move be damned. NASCAR officials are even suggesting that the race be held mid-week.

How many thousands of people would have to forego an opportunity to see the race simply because they have to be at work bright and early the next day? Did NASCAR even think about that possibility?

Sticking it to Smith
No pun intended, but NASCAR is blowing smoke when it says other tracks should share in and reap the proceeds of The Winston, when in reality it once and for all simply wants to stick it to Smith and Wheeler.

Smith is no dummy. He's a businessman, and a smart one at that. At last count, he owned over 180 automobile dealerships across the country.

He is also the chief figurehead atop the Speedway Motorsports Inc. empire, whose facilities currently play host to nine Winston Cup races -- that's one-fourth of the schedule -- with outstanding racing complexes not only in Charlotte, but also in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Bristol, Sears Point and Texas.

No pun intended, but NASCAR is blowing smoke when it says other tracks should share in and reap the proceeds of The Winston, when in reality it once and for all simply wants to stick it to Smith and Wheeler.

As the Winston Cup schedule has grown in recent years, Smith has continually asked NASCAR figureheads to give his tracks a few more races to host. Surely, it makes more economic sense to hold two races per season at a place like Texas, which can draw 200,000 fans, than Martinsville, which might draw 85,000.

Yet each time Smith has come calling, NASCAR has slammed the door first in his face when he was arriving, and again in his posterior as he was leaving.

Now, don't get me wrong, no one will have to hold a tag day for Bruton any time soon. But the threat by NASCAR to pull The Winston out of Smith's track in Charlotte and make it a traveling all-star event has nothing to do with what's best for the event, but more about the dirty politics that continue to permeate throughout NASCAR.

As businessmen, Smith and Wheeler want to maximize the profit potential and earnings capability at Lowe's Motor Speedway. In so doing, they'll hold any type of event that not only pays the bills, but also keeps the place humming with activity. A closed facility is a non-revenue producing facility.

That's why LMS has hosted a variety of events, and not all racing-related, over the years, from races to car shows to concerts. But the latest racing news to come out of SMI's headquarters was followed shortly by the sudden enlightened vision from NASCAR that The Winston should hit the road, lock, stock and barrel.

Coincidence? I think not.

Bad TRAC record
Even with the mega-billions in TV revenue, souvenir sales, sponsorship income, etc., that NASCAR rakes in each year, it has remained a very proprietary and greedy organization. To me, the ONLY reason NASCAR wants to move The Winston out of Charlotte is because SMI is expected to play host to as many as 12 events of the rival TRAC stock car series, which is slated to make its debut next year.

That dozen events will likely break down to two races apiece at each of SMI's six "Winston Cup" tracks.

Smith and Wheeler didn't go out and intentionally court TRAC. In fact, TRAC came calling on SMI because it had the kind of playing fields it wanted its series and drivers to play upon.

And, like the good businessmen they are, Smith and Wheeler listened. They liked TRAC's business plan, that TRAC was going to be more of a so-called "grass roots" circuit that would be less expensive than Winston Cup, and that TRAC wanted to race an all-oval series and also wanted to develop young drivers.

Where have we heard that before? Ah, yes, the Indy Racing League. And yet, when the IRL was born, you didn't see NASCAR and the France family threaten to pull out of the Brickyard 400, did you? Even when the IRL ran events at SMI facilities, NASCAR remained mum.

What's more, the IRL and International Speedway Corp. (NASCAR's parent company), remain snuggled in the same bed financially and philosophically to this very day, including being partners in several facilities such as new race tracks in suburban Chicago and Kansas City.

Yet, NASCAR wants to take The Winston, the crown jewel for LMS and SMI, away because TRAC is the dirtiest four-letter word in NASCAR's vocabulary. Even if TRAC doesn't present any type of threat to NASCAR's long-term future, it wants to vindictively show Smith, Wheeler and SMI that the more they continue to cross corporate headquarters in Daytona Beach, the less cooperation they'll get in return.

Why, I wouldn't be surprised if NASCAR eventually starts taking race dates away from SMI tracks just for spite -- even though it would be to the overall detriment of the sport.

Holding The Winston at LMS makes so much sense. More than 50 Winston Cup and Busch race teams and over 300 race-related shops, museums and other similar businesses are located within a two-hour radius of Charlotte. Why, RJR's corporate headquarters, in Winston-Salem, N.C., is less than two hours away.

The city of Charlotte, LMS and The Winston are linked at the hip. Just that one mid-May race brings in $100 million in tourism spending every year, according to a study by The Associated Press. That's some major cash that NASCAR might be hard-pressed to see generated if it moves the race to other venues each and every year.

Lowe's Motor Speedway has been, and should continue to be the home of The Winston. In my mind, there's only way that the legacy and integrity of the race can be preserved and continued: RJR officials need to step in, waving fists full of cash, tell the France family to play nice with Smith and Wheeler and that The Winston will remain at LMS ad infinitum.

Period, end of story.

Or if this silly war between NASCAR and Smith/SMI continues, maybe we'll soon start writing about and talking about the TRAC Winston Cup Series before too long.

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.