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Welcome to the Cup Scene Daily for
Vol. III,No.VIXII FINAL EDITION
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Quote of the day: "We're in the entertainment business. When the economy turns around, we'll see full fields."- Kyle Petty 7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE: Four-Time Winston West Champion Roy Smith two others drown in trawler sinking Stewart to do a double Andy Belmont reflects on being a "field filler" Vegas will give first real test of new rules Despite great racing, the Rock's future in doubt Earnhardt Jr.'s 8 crew wins, takes team lead Rusty Wallace Signs Deal To Design Speedway James Ince ready to get back down to the business of racing Man On The Spot Fast friends Junior's visit fulfills child's dream NASCAR Top 10: Las Vegas So Some Seats Were Empty! What's the Big Deal? Cup Scene readers speak out about the new point system
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Happy Birthday: Todd Bodine,Dennis Setzer NASCAR and ISC are stepping up efforts to construct their next track in the Pacific Northwest and bring NASCAR-sanctioned events to a brand new oval. Today, representatives of the International Speedway Corp. will meet with Washington state lawmakers in hopes of steering them toward the venture, which they say would create hundreds of jobs and generate millions of new tax dollars as early as 2008.
"We're coming to say, 'Here's who we are, here's what we do and here's the economic impact we think it will bring to the area,'" said David Talley, International Speedway spokesman. The corporation, which owns Daytona and 11 other tracks that host NASCAR events, is seeking a site of roughly 1,000 acres for a track, a grandstand that's seats a minimum of 75,000 people and regional amenities such as stores, restaurants and hotels. A Washington raceway would generate an estimated $225 million through the construction contract and $220 million in revenues at the track and in communities surrounding the raceway, Talley said. An ambitious schedule would have a track opening somewhere in the state in 2008, he said. Three sites in Snohomish County -- two near Monroe and one near Arlington -- along with properties in Kitsap, Thurston and Pierce counties, are considered possible locations. Racing interests in Oregon also want a shot at the track and met privately with International Speedway officials last week, though their effort is several months behind Washington's. Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, state Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Kitsap, and Lt. Gov. Brad Owen attended the Daytona 500 this month at the invitation of International Speedway. Sheldon arranged today's hearings for legislators, who may consider a track-related bill in the 2005 session. "It's still developing. The guts will be to direct some proceeds from sales tax to infrastructure improvements," he said. "Every site needs transportation improvements." Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, said he is looking forward to the presentations, but serious talks won't begin until International Speedway picks a site.
"I'm not a NASCAR nut, but I am very interested in pursuing it for the state," he said. "Location is everything. That gets it started. Then the racing community wants six months to put together a package, and then we can form legislation." The nearest major NASCAR track is in Sonoma in Northern California.
Though minor NASCAR races are held throughout Washington, tracks in the Northwest are too small to handle crowds for the sport's major national races.
"It would change the face of Thurston County," said Tamara Garcia, executive director of the Olympia Thurston County Visitor and Convention Bureau.
Garcia said her knowledge of the project is sketchy, but she supports trying to recruit a track to Thurston County.
"Even not knowing all the details, we're about promoting tourism," she said.
Debbie Emge, vice president of business development for the Snohomish County Economic Development Council, said a track of three-quarters of a mile to one mile in length would take two years to build and cost $227 million.
She estimated it would support 2,100 construction jobs.
ISC officials use about 200 acres for the track, Emge said.
"There is a lot of green space around it," she said. "They leave room for soccer fields, dog-walking areas, hiking areas. And when racing's not going on, the track can be used for walk-a-thons, antique car shows, chili cook-offs, tire testing, driving schools and concerts. It winds up being a win-win for any community that gets it."
International Speedway has been eyeing the Pacific Northwest for several years. The nearest NASCAR events are at Sears Point Raceway in Northern California, and International Speedway's nearest track is in Southern California. Talley said fans from Washington and Oregon routinely travel to those places to see races.
Speedways are economic engines that encourage growth around them, he said, citing the experience of the company's newest tracks, which opened in 2000 in Kansas City, Kan., and Joliet, Ill.
In Kansas, dozens of businesses have cropped up around the Kansas Speedway, and construction is nearly done on a 1 million-square-foot commercial development nearby.
But the birth of the two tracks came with very different public costs.
In Kansas, politicians poured public investment into the project, endorsing the sale of bonds for construction and paying off the bonds with property and sales tax revenues from the speedway. Another $34 million went into road improvements, including relocating a stretch of state highway.
And they helped International Speedway buy 169 properties to create a 1,200-acre parcel for the raceway. One-fifth of the properties were seized by eminent domain, with each landowner paid 125 percent of the land's value, said Jeff Boerger, president of the Kansas Speedway.
"The politicians did take a great risk," he said.
Today, the speedway employs 43 full-time employees and hosts 210 events a year. During events such as the coveted Nextel Cup NASCAR race, the number of workers soars to nearly 3,000. Add to that the economic impact of fans staying in hotels, eating in restaurants and shopping in stores, and the risk has paid off, he said.
In Illinois, International Speedway constructed the Chicagoland Speedway entirely with private money.
Located in a more remote area than its Kansas counterpart, there hasn't been as much new growth, said Matt Alexander, vice president and general manager of the track. But surrounding land values have increased tenfold, putting smiles on the faces of neighbors who initially frowned on the track's arrival.
Talley stressed that International Speedway has not asked Washington lawmakers for anything, yet.
"Would we like public support if we can get it? Certainly. Would we not come if we didn't get any? I can't say," Talley said. "We're very, very early in this process. It's premature to ask for anything."
Four-Time Winston West Champion Roy Smith two others drown in trawler sinking
Roy Smith and two other men drowned and one was rescued after a commercial fishing trawler sank off northern Vancouver Island British Columbia, rescue officials said.
Michael Slusar a Canadian Fisheries Department observer, was reported in good condition Thursday after being taken aboard a helicopter along with the bodies of two of the crew members of the 80-foot Hope Bay of Victoria. All were taken to Port Hardy.
The third body was recovered several hours later, said Dennis Kimoto of the Rescue Coordination Center in Victoria.
Smith, 59, of Malahat British Columbia, a four-time champion of the NASCAR Winston West Circuit, competed in the Daytona 500 three times and was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2002. His best finish at Daytona was 10th in 1982.
The other crew members were Derek Myers, 48, of Victoria, a bachelor two months from retirement, and Dennis Webber, 44 of Errington, married and a father of two.
"I know people in the trawl fleet are very upset. They were well known and well qualified," Stuart Nelson of the Deep Sea Trawlers Association said.
Slusar was contracted by the government to ensure compliance with groundfish regulations.
Kimoto said all aboard abandoned ship when the Hope Bay foundered shortly in heavy seas after midnight Thursday nearly 60 miles north of Vancouver Island in Queen Charlotte Sound.
The vessel apparently was heading south, possibly to a processing plant at Port Hardy on the north end of Vancouver Island, Nelson said.
A mayday broadcast from the Hope Bay was heard in Prince Rupert on the mainland, and coast guard vessels, the British Columbia ferry Queen of the North and search aircraft were dispatched.
The sinking site was located by the crew of a Buffalo aircraft and a Cormorant helicopter was used for the rescue mission.
Nelson said he understood three of the four aboard had survival suits, but it was unclear whether they were used.
About 40 commercial trawlers typically work along the west coast of Vancouver Island and northward at this time of year, Nelson said.
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