CONCORD, N.C. -- Concord may allow a drag strip after all, after a vote by the city council Tuesday that could put an end to the standoff between the city and Lowe’s Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith.

Smith had threatened to move LMS out of Concord after the city put a stop to a proposed drag strip adjacent to the speedway by amending the area’s zoning laws.

In a work session meeting Tuesday, the City Council voted to ask the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider amending the speedway’s zoning district to allow drag strips.

If this were a game of poker, Bruton Smith was all in -- that meant the speedway was on the table. Given the stakes, no one is surprised the city folded.

City Councilman Lamar Barrier makes it clear that no one was willing to call Smith’s bluff, if he was bluffing.

“I think we had a choice. We could have stuck to our guns and lost the speedway,” Barrier said.

Barrier has been on the council since 1985. He was in the work session when the council reversed course Tuesday.

Two weeks ago the council said no to Smith’s drag strip because of environmental and noise issues. Smith in turn threatened to move Lowe’s Motor Speedway, if he couldn’t build the drag strip on his property.

Residents in the Ridge Crossing community applauded the city for taking a stand. Rosemary Ruiz is one of the leaders.

“How somebody can hold the City of Concord hostage, that really bothers me,” Ruiz said. “But I think cooler heads are prevailing.”

Ruiz is optimistic that the noise issue can be worked out, but she knows that some neighbors will be upset because the city council gave in.

“No, I don’t believe they knuckled in, I think there is a lot of compromise,” she said. “I thought it was unfair of Mr. Smith to put everybody in a frenzy.”

Councilman Barrier leaves little doubt that Smith held all the cards, because the city couldn’t afford to let LMS leave.

“It would throw a real hardship on the city, plus the county,” he said. “We lost Phillip Morris, CTC has been bought out. We had to think about every citizen, not just one section of the city.”