Not a single state legislator from the Kitsap Peninsula supports proposals for using state dollars to help finance a NASCAR racetrack in their area. “Given the pulse of the Legislature, it’s a dead duck,” predicted Rep. Bill Eickmeyer, a Democrat from Belfair.

The News Tribune last week contacted all nine of the state legislators who represent the peninsula. Nearly all were either in outright opposition to the idea or highly skeptical.

State Sen. Derek Kilmer was by far the most positive, and he was only a maybe. “The devil is going to be in the details,” said Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat. “I think the project has some potential. But only if you do it right.” Lack of enthusiasm from local legislators isn’t discouraging International Speedway Corp., the company looking for help building an 83,500-seat racetrack near Bremerton. Company vice president Grant Lynch said he’s been working with his team of lobbyists, and that he met with 55 legislators over the summer.

“I felt a lot of momentum for our package,” Lynch said. The 2007 legislative session begins Jan. 8. Lynch said the company is lining up legislators to sponsor a bill for the racetrack. He said he wasn’t ready to release names but that he expected an impressive list of supporters. Lynch said the company’s “new and improved” proposal to the Legislature should come in the first few weeks of the 105-day session.

“It will be very similar to the one we structured last time, maybe a little better for the state. A little better split,” Lynch said. The company’s last proposal was for taxpayers to pay for half of the $345 million facility. That state share would be paid through bonds. The racetrack group asserted that the cost of the bonds would be more than covered by the sales taxes that would be paid by out-of-state race fans coming to visit. The idea went nowhere during the last legislative session. No one stepped forward to sponsor a bill. But the track got a boost in May when two South Sound congressmen – Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, and Norm Dicks, D-Belfair – spoke in favor of it. Lynch said track supporters have been working the grass roots. He said he’s hoping support from people and businesses will convince Kitsap-area state legislators that it’s a good idea.

The racetrack has endorsements from more than 300 businesses in Kitsap and surrounding counties. It also has labor unions on its side, which can mean potent allies when pushing bills in Olympia. The overall public sentiment in the Kitsap area depends on which, if any, poll is to be believed. Kitsap County residents are evenly divided over the track, according to a September poll commissioned by the county. International Speedway Corp. paid for its own poll later the same month. That poll indicated 54 percent support for the track when Kitsap, Mason and Pierce counties were considered.

Track opponents, however, have their own poll. It shows most voters in the three counties against it.

One thing is clear: The November elections on the Kitsap Peninsula did NASCAR no favors. There were four unsuccessful Republican candidates for the Legislature who either backed the track plan or at least liked it better than the Democrats who beat them.

Tacoma News Tribune

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