Related Parties |
12 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Dec. 31, 2025 | |
| Related Party Transactions [Abstract] | |
| Related Parties | Related Parties Certain of our dealerships purchase the zMAX micro-lubricant from Oil-Chem Research Corporation (“Oil-Chem”), a subsidiary of Speedway Motorsports, LLC (“Speedway Motorsports”), for resale to Fixed Operations guests of our dealerships in the ordinary course of business. David Bruton Smith, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is an officer and director of Speedway Motorsports and an officer and director of Sonic Financial Corporation (“SFC”), which is the largest stockholder of Sonic; Marcus G. Smith, a director and a greater than 10% beneficial owner of Sonic, is a director and the Chief Executive Officer and President of Speedway Motorsports and a director and an officer of SFC; B. Scott Smith, a director and a greater than 10% beneficial owner of Sonic, is a co-owner, director and an officer of both Speedway Motorsports and SFC; Michael Hodge, a director of Sonic, is the Chief Financial Officer of Speedway Motorsports and SFC; and William R. Brooks, a director of Sonic, is Vice Chairman of Speedway Motorsports and a director and an officer at SFC. There were no purchases from Oil-Chem by our dealerships in 2025, and there were approximately $0.4 million and $1.2 million in 2024 and 2023, respectively. We also engaged in other transactions with various Speedway Motorsports subsidiaries, consisting primarily of: (1) merchandise and apparel purchases from SMISC Holdings, LLC (d/b/a SMI Properties) (“SMISC”) for approximately $0.7 million, $0.8 million and $0.9 million in 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively; and (2) vehicle sales to various Speedway Motorsports subsidiaries which were approximately $0.6 million, $0.2 million and $0.2 million in 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
In July 2024, the Company entered into a Sponsorship Agreement between EchoPark Automotive, Inc., a subsidiary of Sonic (“EchoPark Automotive”), and SMISC pursuant to which EchoPark Automotive agreed to be an official sponsor of a NASCAR Cup Series race and related events scheduled to be held annually in Austin, Texas (the “NASCAR Event”). In exchange for the right to sponsor the NASCAR Event, EchoPark Automotive paid an annual sponsor fee of approximately $2.5 million to SMISC in both 2024 and 2023. In February 2025, the Company, EchoPark Automotive and SMISC entered into an amendment to the Sponsorship Agreement pursuant to which EchoPark Automotive received sponsorship rights and benefits associated with several NASCAR events held at Speedway Motorsports facilities. In exchange, the Company paid a sponsorship fee of $6.8 million to Speedway GLOBE, LLC (“GLOBE”), a subsidiary of Speedway Motorsports, in 2025.
In June 2025, the Company entered into a Facility Naming Rights and Sponsorship Agreement with GLOBE, which replaced the Sponsorship Agreement and pursuant to which EchoPark Automotive agreed to become the naming rights partner of the Atlanta Motor Speedway, LLC (“AMS”) motorsports facility, and the AMS facility was renamed as “EchoPark Speedway.” The parties also agreed to continue the sponsorship rights and benefits associated with several NASCAR events held at Speedway Motorsports facilities previously provided by the amended Sponsorship Agreement. The Facility Naming Rights and Sponsorship Agreement covers a seven-year period. The Company paid total rights fees of approximately $9.5 million to GLOBE in 2025 (inclusive of the $6.8 million previously paid to GLOBE pursuant to the amended Sponsorship Agreement).
We participate in various aircraft-related transactions with SFC, a privately held company controlled by David Bruton Smith, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Marcus G. Smith and B. Scott Smith, both directors of Sonic, and of which Michael Hodge and William R. Brooks, directors of Sonic, are officers. Such transactions include, but are not limited to, the use of aircraft owned by SFC for business-related travel by our executives, a management agreement with SFC for storage and maintenance of aircraft leased by us from unrelated third parties and the use of our aircraft for business-related travel by certain affiliates of SFC. We incurred net expenses of approximately $4.4 million, $4.0 million and $1.6 million in 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, for aircraft-related transactions with SFC.
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