Pole position

As the popularity of NASCAR racing surges, area cities vie for a Northwest track

By Andy Giegerich

The Portland Tribune, Jan 27, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Portland is gearing up for an emerging contest with Seattle for a track that would bring NASCAR racing, billed as America’s fastest-growing sport, to the Northwest.

However, the lack of an immediately viable site and sources of funding could handicap Portland, local observers say.

Still, local boosters plan to pursue the venture because of its revenue potential. A track in the Portland area that could accommodate as many as 80,000 NASCAR fans Ñ many of whom travel long distances and camp out for days in advance Ñ could inject millions of dollars into the region’s economy.

“The economic impact of it would be undeniably good,” said Drew Mahalic, the Oregon Sports Authority’s chief executive officer. “It would bring a sporting event here that’s been incredibly successful in the East and Southeast, so we’re committed to investigate whether there’s a fit for it in our state.”

The debate over whether Oregon can attract a NASCAR stadium comes as Daytona Beach, Fla.-based International Speedways Corp., the group that owns about half of the tracks that host NASCAR races, seeks a site in the Pacific Northwest. International Speedways executives want to build a facility in either the Portland or Seattle area, spokesman Dave Talley said.

International Speedways representatives recently met with the Oregon Sports Authority, which seeks to attract major sporting events to the state, as well as top executives from Peter Jacobsen Productions, which produces sports events nationwide.

NASCAR events, which occur on speedways mainly in the Southeast over a 10-month season, have grown steadily in popularity. While most of the fan base used to be concentrated in the South, about one in five Americans now follows the sport, NASCAR says.

Talley said International Speedways is in the early stages of the siting process, and has not identified any potential track locations.

“We’re looking in the Pacific Northwest, in Oregon and in Washington, but we haven’t landed on a spot,” he said. “We’re very, very early in the process.”

Talley called the area “an underserved motor sports market.”

Richard Chapman, vice president of the Economic Development Council of Seattle, said International Speedways has sniffed out sites in the Everett, Wash., area but has not bid on anything.

Mahalic said a Portland area track could pull in an amount comparable to that of an International Speedways facility in Phoenix. An Arizona State University study reported that the Phoenix track brought the area some $272 million in direct and indirect revenue in 2001.

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