Kentucky Speedway

By most accounts, what has happened at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky., is a debacle.

The racetrack broke ground in 1998 and opened in 2000. It cost $153 million to build the facility, which originally had 66,000 seats (some reports indicate 69,000 seats). The state of Kentucky invested $96 million into infrastructure to support the track at its opening, according to this article. (See reference attributed to Smith, about the 13th paragraph.)

The original owners of the track campaigned unsuccessfully for several years to attract a Sprint Cup race and ultimately filed an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation, a publicly held company that owns several tracks around the country. The courts ruled in favor of NASCAR and ISC.

In the meantime, the track was sold to Speedway Motorsports (SMI), the other major publicly held entity with interest in several racetracks. Another $50 million would be invested into the track to expand the seating capacity to over 100,000 and add another 200 acres for camping. There was talk of these improvements being offset by tax breaks from the state to the tune of $30-36 million.

Sprint Cup Comes to Kentucky
Eleven years after its opening, Kentucky Speedway finally got its Sprint Cup race in 2011, when SMI relocated a race from one of its other facilities, Atlanta Motor Speedway. Who won the race was secondary news compared to the severe inefficiency of the infrastructure to accommodate the volume of cars trying to get to the race. Various reports estimate between 10,000-20,000 fans never made it to the race because they were stuck on I-71, the main artery to the track, for up to 6 hours. Halfway through the race, those still on the freeway were told to turn around to make way for the fans leaving the race.

According to the Associated Press, “The state [of Kentucky] spent millions of dollars over the last decade to improve the infrastructure around the track in hope of getting a Cup date. Yet widening the interstate to three lanes for a couple of miles heading north to Cincinnati did little to expedite things.” (July 10, 2011)

Urgent Upgrades
SMI and the state are now scrambling to upgrade the infrastructure around the facility in time for the Quaker State 400 this June. An additional $11 million has been sunk into expanding the roads, parking areas, and camping. An additional 18,700 cars can now park on Speedway properties (33,000 was original capacity). A pedestrian walkway beneath the road will help pedestrians get to the track without disrupting traffic flow. And, the state has widened the freeway to five lanes and expanded the exit ramps at the Speedway to three lanes.

Why do I share the story of Kentucky? For several reasons:

• Infrastructure: Kentucky had 66,000/69,000 seats when it first opened. The proposed racetrack for ENM is slated to have 65,000 seats. The infrastructure needed for the original Kentucky Speedway may point to what could be needed here. I-35 only has two lanes in each direction and single-lane exit ramps. Kentucky expanded I-71 to three lanes in preparation for the track.
• Infrastructure costs: the state invested $96 million into infrastructure originally. Another $10 million – $3.6 million by the state – has been spent to make sure fans actually get to the race this year. The proposed facility here is smaller than the current Kentucky Speedway, however, the original $96-million investment was needed for a track of 66,000/69,000 seats – comparable size. Can Minnesota and Scott County make that sort of an investment to support the proposed speedway?
• Seating capacity: the original 66,000/69,000 was not enough to attract a Sprint Cup race. They had to up it to more than 100,000 to host a race. IMEDC and fans may be overly optimistic to think a Sprint Cup race would come to the proposed facility with only 65,000 seats.
• Sprint Cup schedule: As noted on a previous post, the schedule for Sprint Cup, as well as Camping World and Truck Series are full. The only reason Kentucky got a Sprint Cup race is because SMI relocated a race from another one of its tracks.
• Camping: Nothing I’ve found indicated how many acres were originally devoted to camping, however, this article references an additional 200 acres were added for camping after SMI purchased the track. Additional camping areas have been added as part of the improvements in the past year. Can you imagine 200+ acres crammed with RVs and tailgating fans? It might be fun to be among them but what impact will the massive campgrounds have on life for residents?
• Tax incentives: this article references a possible $30-36 million in tax breaks just for the improvements to increase seating capacity at the facility. How much would Minnesota and Scott County be willing to concede to get a track built?

By all accounts, the lessons we can learn from Kentucky indicate that the proposed racetrack for ENM would require significant investments of public money for infrastructure upgrades for a track that is not likely to attract a big-name race. We maybe already knew that, however, to see actual dollar amounts – $96 million in infrastructure costs and $30-36 million in possible tax breaks for expanded seating alone – certainly should be reason to reject this development prospect.