Kansas Speedway pushes for extra Winston Cup date

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Kansas Speedway officials are continuing their efforts to persuade NASCAR into granting the 3-year-old track a second race on the Winston Cup schedule.

Speedway President Jeff Boerger said during a luncheon Tuesday that "chances are fairly good" the 1 1/2-mile track would land a second Winston Cup race. Currently, NASCAR's premier series is scheduled to stop in Kansas the weekend of Oct. 5.

The effort is dubbed "Project Blitz," Boerger said, and will be presented to NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation officials in late April or early May.

"I think with our sponsors in place and our fan base that we have a good shot at a second race," Boerger said.

The demand at Kansas Speedway for watching NASCAR and the Indy Racing League continues to be strong.

Kansas expanded its seating by 1,500 seats in the offseason, topping 80,000. Boerger said the speedway sold out its 2003 season and the waiting list is growing.

About 650,000 fans attended speedway events in 2002, while another 2.4 million people visited Cabela's, the outdoor gear retailer, located east of the speedway in the 1,000-acre Village West retail district.

Also under construction nearby are a Nebraska Furniture Mart, the Great Wolf Lodge hotel and the home of a new minor league baseball team, the Kansas City T-Bones. All facilities are expected to open by late summer, except for the ballpark, which is to open in June.

Boerger said the public-private partnership to land the second race would be similar to the efforts of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County-Kansas City, Kan., and the Board of Public Utilities to secure the construction of Kansas Speedway in the late 1990s.

That partnership figures to play an important role, he said, as Kansas competes with tracks in California, Phoenix, Chicago, Darlington, S.C., and Rockingham, N.C.

Sally Lundsford, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing, said the state has participated in conference calls and meetings to help land the second race.

"We're making every effort to be a player," Lundsford said.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said she has had discussions with Lisa Kennedy, daughter of Bill France Jr., the owner of NASCAR and ISC, about Kansas landing a second race.

"What we can do to help this effort and promote it would be terrific," Sebelius told reporters during a news conference Tuesday. "She thinks Kansas is very much in the running and very much competitive."

Sebelius added she expects to talk with Kennedy further about a second race.

Boerger said one factor in Kansas' favor is that the speedway is already wired for night racing. Lights could be installed, with ISC approval, quickly. However, installing lights in the public parking spaces would cost about $6 million.

A night race would give the speedway more flexibility in accommodating fans and racing in the heat of a Kansas summer. Last year, pit temperatures soared past 150 degrees during July IRL races.

"At the end of the day, we're going to have a strong case," Boerger said.

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Kansas Speedway: http://www.kansasspeedway.com

NASCAR: http://www.nascar.com

Governor's office: http://www.ksgovernor.gov

Department of Commerce and Housing: http://www.kansascommerce.com