The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

More than 5,000 fans 'Back the Track'

Fan Fest at Tacoma Dome a Roaring Success

TACOMA, Wash., Jan. 23 -- A highly supportive and vocal crowd of more than 5,400 race fans gathered at the Tacoma Dome last week to meet some of their favorite NASCAR and Indy Racing League ("IRL") drivers and to show support for Great Western Sports' ("GWS") development of a world-class motorsports facility in Kitsap County. The crowd repeatedly cheered at the mention of potentially having NASCAR racing in Washington.

NASCAR and IRL drivers and dignitaries who attended the event included Greg Biffle, of Vancouver, WA, runner-up in the 2005 Nextel Cup championship; Enumclaw native and 2004 Nextel Cup rookie of the year Kasey Kahne; two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip; three-time NASCAR champion and FOX Sports broadcaster Darrell Waltrip; two-time Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr.; four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Sr.; and three-time Indy 500 winner Johnny Rutherford. NBC Sports broadcaster Allen Bestwick and open-wheel racing reporter Curt Cavin moderated panel discussions with the drivers, who also signed autographs and discussed racing and the track project with fans and reporters.

The drivers all expressed support for a new racetrack in Washington and for bringing top-tier motorsports to this corner of the country.

More than 30 exhibitors representing Washington's racing community and motorsports enthusiasts were on-hand to help spread the excitement to the thousands in attendance at the Tacoma Dome, including many who stood in line for several hours before the doors opened to the public at 6:00 p.m.

The event also featured exhibits from the LeMay Museum, local short track drivers and their race cars, and representatives from Washington area race tracks.

"We believe that this event will help legislators and other business leaders in Washington understand that motorsports truly has a dedicated following in this area and that there is considerable support for our proposal to build a track here," said Grant Lynch, project leader for GWS. "And we know that a world-class facility in Washington State will not only attract local fans, but race fans from all over the country will come to experience the excitement of major motorsports."

Eager fans waved homemade signs that read, "We Want NASCAR in the NW" and "Please Support Bringing NASCAR to the Northwest," hopeful to see their favorite sport at home instead of needing to travel across the country to watch top-level auto racing. Lynch stated that there are more than 11,000 separate ticket accounts in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, with each account representing more than one ticket purchased for other races across the country. These fans are likely to attend races in Washington, in addition to the estimated tens of thousands of out-of-state race fans that would also attend a race. In fact, the out-of-state fans would help generate the revenue to fund the public portion of constructing the $345 million facility.

GWS' finance proposal includes its contribution of $166 million, or nearly half the project costs. A Public Stadium Authority would use sales tax revenue from spending by race fans, including mostly out-of-state visitors, to fund $166 million of facility construction costs. An existing local tax on fans attending races would contribute $13 million. Local residents who do not attend races will not pay a dime. No new taxes would be created by the proposed facility and the millions of dollars in tax revenues generated by visitors could be used by local governments to address specific needs within their communities. No money would be taken from state coffers to pay for the facility. In addition, the facility will be used for major racing events only two times per year.

Several local organizations have endorsed the development of the facility including: the Kitsap County Economic Development Council; the Economic Development Council of Mason County; the Kitsap Peninsula Visitor & Convention Bureau; the Bremerton, Port Orchard, North Mason, Silverdale and Shelton-Mason Chambers of Commerce; the Seattle Sports Commission; the Kitsap County Sports Roundtable; the Bremerton Motorsports Club; the Downtown Bremerton Association and Dave Johnson, Executive Secretary of the Washington Building & Construction Trades Council; the Olympic Peninsula Building and Trades Council; Leader International Corp.; Secretary-Treasurer Bruce Spalding and Linda Lanham, Legislative and Political Director of the Machinist Union (IAM 751); and Shawn Cucciardi, owner of the McCormick Woods Golf Course and President of the Kitsap Visitor and Convention Bureau. GWS has also launched an extensive outreach effort to directly address concerns of local residents and provide additional information about the project, Great Western Sports and International Speedway Corporation. The 'Back the Track Night' at the Tacoma Dome is the largest event thus far for fans and supporters of the project.

GWS has opened offices in Bremerton and Tacoma. For more information on GWS' efforts to bring world-class racing to Washington, visit www.race2wa.com.

Great Western Sports is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Speedway Corporation, a leading promoter of motorsports activities in the United States, currently promoting more than 100 events annually as well as numerous other motorsports-related activities.