A need for speed

Originally printed in the Woodford Sun June 18

Ford or Chevy? Kyle Busch or Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Short track or super speedway?

NASCAR fans find plenty to debate, but on one subject Kentucky race fans can agree. Virtually all of the nearly 70,000 spectators who poured into the Kentucky Speedway for the Meijer 300 Nationwide Series race on Saturday, June 13, would like to see a Sprint Cup race in the Bluegrass State.

But for Kentucky Speedway owners, luring the big boys of NASCAR remains elusive and the prospects for a 2010 date look bleak.

“I think there may be a slim chance – and slim probably left town,” Kentucky Speedway owner Bruton Smith said at a press conference before Saturday’s race. “The schedule is not completed, but I believe it will be completed and we’ll probably not be able to get on the schedule or change the schedule for next year.”

Smith’s Speedway Motor Sports Inc. purchased Kentucky Speedway from International Speedway Corp. in May 2008. SMI owns seven other racetracks that host Sprint Cup races, and Smith made it clear when he purchased the 1.5-mile oval near Sparta that he intends to bring a top-tier race to Kentucky.

But legal wrangling between NASCAR and the previous ownership remains the biggest hurdle.

Northern Kentucky businessman Jerry Carroll, along with four other investors, built the $162 million track on 816 acres of farmland in Gallatin County. Kentucky Speedway opened in 2000.

Carroll’s company, International Speedway Corp., filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR in 2005, saying the governing body conspired to keep Kentucky Speedway from getting a Cup race. Federal Judge William Bertlesman dismissed the suit in January 2008, saying that ISC failed to make its case.

“A producer of a product is free under current antitrust laws to select its distributors and to refuse to deal with would-be distributors, no matter how worthy or deserving they may be.”

Carroll appealed the ruling and the case remains pending. NASCAR has made it clear that no Sprint Cup race will come to Kentucky until the legal matters are resolved.

Many racing experts also believe the track will need to expand seating and make other improvements in order to host a Cup race.

SMI has already made $13.5 million in improvements at Kentucky Speedway since purchasing the track last year, including the addition of infield camping sites and new access roads to improve traffic flow.

But the speedway would likely need to add upwards of 50,000 seats to its 68,000 seat capacity.

The Kentucky House passed a bill on March 5 that would have allowed SMI to recoup 25 percent of its expansion costs through sales tax revenue over 20 years. The House passed HB521 98-0.

The bill died in a Senate committee, but the issue remains alive. Gov. Steve Beshear has expressed support for state aid in luring a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky.

“The impact of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race for Kentucky is undeniable. NASCAR is the number one spectator sport in the United States and is broadcast in more than 150 countries and 30 languages. I’m excited about the potential of Kentucky joining these ranks,” the governor said in a news conference last February.

Beshear announced on June 5 that he would add an economic development bill to the agenda for the special legislative session that began June 15, and that bill will include incentives for the Kentucky Speedway to lure a Cup race.

While race fans long for a Sprint Cup date at Kentucky Speedway, not all of them think it should come at taxpayer expense.

Don Tankersley made the 45-minute trip from Versailles, Ind. to take in the Meijer 300, and he said that he would love to see a Cup race at the speedway.

“I think it would be a good thing if they would get them in here. But I think we all know that they’ll need more seating.”

And while the issue wouldn’t directly affect him as an Indiana resident, Tankersley said that he doesn’t think Kentucky taxpayers should foot the bill.

“I don’t like taxpayer dollars going into any sporting event. I don’t think the state should pay for it.”

But he added a caveat.

“I don’t have a problem with a little tax exemption to get them in here.”

Tankersley said that he thinks the statewide economic benefits of NASCAR are overblown, especially in an area such as Sparta that boasts very little development to begin with.

“The only benefit here is here,” he said, sweeping his hand around the track. “It helps a few gas stations, but that’s about it.”

Racing flows through Mark Ballard’s blood. The Owensboro resident raced late model stock cars in Nashville and he brought his son, who races go-carts, to the Kentucky Speedway for his first NASCAR experience. Ballard disagrees with the notion that a Cup race wouldn’t benefit the state at large, and he said that he wouldn’t mind the state spending tax dollars if it meant bringing a Sprint Cup race home.

“I’ve seen the state waste a lot of money on a lot of other things,” he said. “I think the taxpayer dollar would be minimal compared to the return it would get.”

Ballard pointed out the large crowed present for the Nationwide race and said that he thought a Sprint Cup date would mean even more to the state, especially in national exposure and publicity.

“Nothing against Nationwide, but the Cup side is so much bigger.”

In addition to the Nationwide Series race, Kentucky Speedway also hosts a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event in July and an IndyCar race in August, along with other smaller racing events.