Backseat Blonde - Seattle to Rain on NASCAR’s Southern Parade?

September 27, 2004

Seattle to Rain on NASCAR’s Southern Parade?
By Allison Wagda

NASCAR’s quest to conquer the west will take a
decidedly northern turn today when its sister company,
International Speedway Corp., announces the selection
of a site outside of Seattle for its latest track
development.

The long-anticipated news will reverberate throughout
the NASCAR nation. To racing executives, the Seattle market means access to a
potential gold mine of untapped fans and sponsors. It also means entrance into the
coveted Canadian market…Vancouver, British Columbia is just a couple of hours
from the proposed site.

But to the sport’s legendarily loyal fans in the south, the announcement could signal
the further erosion of track dates in their neck of the woods.

This season has already witnessed the demise of one old-school track,
Rockingham International Speedway (North Carolina), and the loss of the traditional
Labor Day Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (South Carolina) to California.

It is Darlington that is the likely target to be shut out of NASCAR’s top circuit in favor of
Seattle. The track has mostly failed to fill the stands in recent years and has been
relegated to an obscure Mother’s Day weekend for the 2005 season, a move seen by
many as NASCAR’s way of easing out of the region.

Could Martinsville, or even Homestead-Miami be on the chopping block too?
NASCAR’s looking at the media-rich New York market, and is testing out the
international scene in Mexico with the Busch series next year. Since most agree the
schedule can hardly be lengthened due to rising costs and a drought of new
sponsors, some tracks are going to lose out. Only time will tell who pays the highest
price, but count on it being the south.

Funny thing is…ratings last weekend at New Hampshire were pretty pathetic, even
though it was the first of the much-hyped Chase for the Championship races.
NASCAR blamed outages due to the hurricane in Florida. With these other tracks
stealing dates from NASCAR’s core southern fan base, NASCAR better hope these
new markets pan out well.

Racing in the Rain:
Due to the propensity for precipitation in the Pacific Northwest throughout most of the
year, the race will have to be held during either July or August. Every other month has
at least an average of 10 days of rain per month (see table below).

And given all the fiddling NASCAR has done with the schedule recently, the series
can hardly afford to move many more races. Many fans base their vacations on races
at their favorite tracks…we need a little bit of stability if NASCAR actually expects us to
keep showing up year after year.

Plus, will ISC be satisfied with one race per year in Seattle? With the track expected
to be a ¾ mile oval, it won’t be all that hospitable to other racing series. According to
the Seattle Times, ISC is asking for financial assistance in the form of financing from
the region to help build the track.

The area would benefit from growth in terms of visitor services such as lodging and
more, as the story goes. Is anyone going to build a hotel to cater to visitors one
weekend per year?

Kansas is the model being cited for the new Seattle track, yet the versatile 1.5 mile
Kansas tri-oval also hosts an IRL race and a Craftsman Truck Series race on
independent weekends. ISC gave California Speedway a second date in order to
further raise the profile of the sport in nearby Los Angeles, and still only employs an
average of 50 people full-time.

The small town of Marysville (outside of Seattle) will need more than one annual
traffic-filled weekend and 50 new jobs to see a significant return on investment.

No doubt, fans in the Pacific Northwest deserve the chance to see NASCAR up close
and personal at least once a year. But NASCAR and ISC need to tread carefully
during this time of growth, lest they realign themselves right out of business.

Fast Facts:
Monthly Rain Averages (in inches) - Seattle
Jan        5.94
Feb        4.2
Mar        3.7
Apr         2.46
May        1.66
June      1.53
July        0.89
Aug        1.38
Sept       2.03
Oct         3.4
Nov        5.36
Dec        6.29
Courtesy – City of Seattle

ISC-Owned Nextel Cup Tracks
- Daytona International Speedway
- Talladega Superspeedway
- Michigan International Speedway
- Richmond International Raceway
- California Speedway
- Kansas Speedway
- Phoenix International Raceway
- Homestead-Miami Speedway
- Martinsville Speedway
- Darlington Raceway
- Watkins Glen International
- Chicagoland Speedway (37.5%)

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