The much-ballyhooed speedway in Kitsap, Washington that International Speedway Corporation wants to build may be aborted. ISC wants heavy public financing for the speedway and Washington State politicians and voters don't want to help pay for it.
They may be right, based on past experience with publically-financed sports stadiums. And as far as racing goes, the proposed track and its proposed New York City sister track are bad ideas. NASCAR has already penciled in two Nextel Cup/BGN weekends for its proposed NYC Speedway, but to get those dates it has hinted at taking some dates away from tracks like Martinsville.
Given the speedway fratricide the sport has endured the last ten years - North Wilkesboro and Rockingham are gone, Darlington is down to one date, and we've endured the spectacle of speedway lawsuits regarding Texas Motor Speedway and more recently Kentucky Speedway - few people support the idea of taking dates away from established speedways in favor of these newer tracks which don't promise particularly good racing to begin with. And one has to wonder why so much money is being invested in proposed new speedways instead of being spent on more pressing needs within the sport, such as its feeder series like BGN, the varied short track touring series, and even the Trucks, which need better purses and promotion and more sponsors.
The sport does not need new tracks. It needs to stay where it is and start reinvesting in its immediate problems.
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