March5th2007

THE WEEKLY SMACK BY DJ RADANOVICH
MARCH 5TH, 2007

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA WON THE BUSCH RACE SUNDAY IN MEXICO. I KIND OF FIGURED HE
WOULD SINCE I READ AN ARTICLE THURSDAY ABOUT HOW MONTOYA IS THE "DALE EARNHARDT"
OF THE LATIN RACING COMMUNITY. WHATEVER SELLS THE TICKETS, RIGHT?

ELSEWHERE, I SEEN A SEGMENT ON THE SPEED CHANNEL WHERE NASCAR IS PUSHING FOR A
NEW TRACK IN WASHINGTON STATE. BUT THIS SEGMENT WAS NOT ABOUT THE TRACK ITSELF, IT
WAS ABOUT COMMENTS MADE BY STATE REP LARRY SEAQUIST. SEAQUIST HAD THIS TO SAY,
"THESE ARE NOT THE TYPE OF PEOPLE YOU WANT LIVING NEXT DOOR TO YOU. THEY'D BE THE
ONES WITH JUNKY CARS IN THEIR FRONT YARD AND WOULD TRY TO SLIP AROUND THE LAW".
ONCE CONFRONTED ABOUT HIS STATEMENT, SEAQUIST SAID HE WAS REFERRING TO
INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY CORPORATION AND NOT THE FANS THEMSELVES. SEAQUIST CLAIMS
THAT ISC IS "TERRIBLE CORPORATE CITIZENS" AND HE PREDICTS THAT NASCAR PROMOTERS
WOULD BE BAD NEIGHBORS. AT FIRST WHEN I HEARD THIS I WAS OUTRAGED, BUT UPON
FURTHER REVIEW, SEAQUIST JUST MAY HAVE A POINT. ON THE PROPOSAL TABLE IS AN 80,000
SEAT, 1.5 MILE FACILITY SITUATED ON 1,000 ACRES. THE TRACK WOULD BE MODELED AFTER THE
KANSAS SPEEDWAY FACILITY AND WOULD BEAR A PRICE TAG OF OVER $345 MILLION DOLLARS.
GREAT WESTERN SPORTS, INC. HAS AGREED TO PUT UP $166 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE NEW
FACILITY, BUT ISC WANTS THE STATE TO ISSUE BONDS AND A PROPOSED GAS TAX FOR THE REST
OF THE FACILITY. NASCAR AND ISC GENERATED OVER $3.6 BILLION DOLLARS IN REVENUE LAST
YEAR BUT THEY DO NOT WANT TO HELP PAY FOR THIS FACILITY. NOW NASCAR HAS ALREADY
STATED THAT THEY WILL FOOT THE ENTIRE BILL FOR THE NEW YORK CITY TRACK ON STATEN
ISLAND WITH A PRICE TAG OF $500-600 MILLION, SO WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIALS ARE
BECOMING WEARY OF WHY NASCAR WON'T HELP OUT IN THEIR STATE.

DATE BACK TO 1999 WHEN NASCAR PROMISED THE NEW OWNERS OF THE KENTUCKY
SPEEDWAY A NASCAR RACE. HERE IT IS EIGHT YEARS LATER AND KENTUCKY STILL HAS NOTHING
MORE THAN A BUSCH AND TRUCK RACE. NOT ONLY HAS THE KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY OWNERS
SHELLED OUT OVER $400 MILLION TO BUILD THIS FACILITY, BUT THE TAXPAYERS HAVE SPENT
OVER $98 MILLION DOLLARS ALONE IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION FEES TO IMPROVE TRAFFIC FLOW
TO THE SPEEDWAY. KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY IS NOT ALONE EITHER. ST. LOUIS, NASHVILLE, AND
COLORADO HAS SUFFERED THE SAME FATE AS KENTUCKY, STILL LIVING ON EMPTY PROMISES,
BECAUSE BRIAN FRANCE DOESN'T FIND IT "ECONOMICAL" TO TAKE RACES AWAY FROM THE
NASCAR OWNED ISC TRACKS AND GIVE RACES TO PRIVATELY OWNED FACILITIES. CASE IN POINT,
BRUTON SMITH FILED AN ANTITRUST SUIT AGAINST NASCAR AFTER THEY FAILED TO GIVE HIS
TEXAS TRACK ANOTHER RACE. INSTEAD OF RISKING A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION, NASCAR AND
BRIAN FRANCE AGREED TO SELL ROCKINGHAM TO SPEEDWAY MOTORSPORTS, INC. (BRUTON
SMITH'S COMPANY) SO THEY COULD SHUT IT DOWN AND GIVE NOT ONLY TEXAS ANOTHER RACE
DATE BUT CALIFORNIA AS WELL. IN ADDITION TO THIS AGREEMENT DARLINGTON LOST A RACE AS
WELL TO KEEP ANOTHER TRACK FROM LOSING IT'S VENUE. SO AFTER DIGGING UP SOME FACTS I
FIND THAT I WOULD NOT WANT MY NAME ASSOCIATED WITH A PROPOSED TRACK IN ANY AREA OF
THIS COUNTRY. NASCAR AND ISC HAVE A SCARY MONOPOLY ON THE SPORT ITSELF AND IF
NASCAR WOULD DECIDE THAT RACING IN WASHINGTON STATE IS NOT A LUCRATIVE AS ONCE
THOUGHT, WELL THE TAXPAYERS SPENT A LOT OF MONEY ON AN EMPTY FACILITY. NASCAR
WANTS A TRACK IN THE NORTHWEST, BUT THEY DON'T WANT TO TAKE THE RISK AND BUILD IT
THEMSELVES. AND AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, IF NASCAR AND ISC DOESN'T OWN THE TRACK
THEN THEY CAN'T BE TRUSTED. BY THE WAY, ON MARCH 3RD 2007, NASCAR ISSUED A
STATEMENT ON A NEW PROPOSED TRACK IN MISSOURI. ISN'T THERE ALREADY ONE IN ST. LOUIS?
OH YEAH, IT'S NOT OWNED BY ISC.