Governor Beshear: Hopes Still High for NASCAR Sprint Cup Race in Kentucky for 2009
Press Release Date: Sunday, May 25, 2008
Contact Information: Dick Brown 502-564-2611
State officials visit Sprint Cup Race at Charlotte
FRANKFORT, KY – Gov. Steve Beshear and Jerry Carroll, the man who helped build the Kentucky Speedway, spent Sunday getting a first-hand view of how a world-class NASCAR Sprint Cup race is run. Both the governor and Carroll returned to Kentucky optimistic that new Kentucky Speedway owner Bruton Smith can find a way to get a similar race in Kentucky as early as next year.
Gov. Beshear, Carroll, and Larry Hayes, Secretary of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet, were guests of Smith for the running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. The visit comes days after the announcement that Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI), headed by Smith, would acquire Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.
“It’s an amazing thing to see. It is something that will have a tremendous economic impact for Kentucky as we help further develop the Kentucky Speedway with this new group,” said Gov. Beshear. “We talked in general about forming a partnership to make sure that Mr. Smith’s operation is a success. I assured him that we would do that. He will be coming to Kentucky in the near future and he and Mr. Carroll will be meeting with me and my staff and we will have more specific conversations about that at that time.”
The question of whether Smith and SMI can get a Sprint Cup race scheduled for the Kentucky Speedway in 2009 has been up in the air. While NASCAR is quoted as saying it may be too late to change the schedule of races for next year, Carroll says he has faith that Bruton Smith can make it happen.
“I’ve been around him for awhile, and I have to say that whenever Bruton Smith says he can do something he normally gets it done,” said Carroll. “I was very encouraged by the things he said today. I would keep my hopes up for 2009, I really would. He wants to have the race here. He loves Kentucky.”
The atmosphere surrounding the race and the potential that a similar event offers Kentucky are all positive factors that Gov. Beshear looks forward to seeing in the Commonwealth.
“It was an exciting day. It’s really a great family affair. And it’s going to fit in so well here in the Commonwealth and so well there at Kentucky Speedway,” said the governor. “There are some great things ahead for the Commonwealth of Kentucky in NASCAR racing.”
Combined with the international attention that will be focused on Kentucky in September with the Ryder Cup and the World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2010, Gov. Beshear says a NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 2009 would be a true trifecta for the Commonwealth.
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