KC tries to land hall of fame

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- NASCAR officials became visitors to the state's biggest attractions Thursday, as they worked to decide whether to add stock car racing's hall of fame to the mix.

And once again, they tried to deflect talk that the Kansas City area -- the only Midwestern site among the five hopefuls -- had already been quietly selected even before NASCAR officials started their recent round of visits.

"One of the things that's kind of tough for us is that we've had a lot of great proposals," said George Pyne, NASCAR's chief of operations. "Nobody's disqualified themselves, and it's going to be challenging for us to make the decision."

Thursday's pitch from business and government leaders from both sides of the state line, including Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, included a tour of the booming Village West area that has sprung up around the 5-year-old Kansas Speedway on the western edge of the metropolitan area.

Kansas City, Kan., is contending against Atlanta, Daytona Beach, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., and Richmond, Va. The round of site visits will conclude with a visit to Richmond next week, and NASCAR has said it hopes to select the winning site by the end of the year.