| | Kentucky Speedway has joined the ranks of major-league motor
racing, landing an Indy Racing League 300-mile race as the showcase
event of its inaugural season.
Jerry Carroll, Kentucky Speedway president, announced Tuesday that
the Belterra Resort Indy 300 Pep Boys Racing League race will be held
Aug. 27, 2000, at the $152 million speedway near Sparta in Gallatin
County.
The 1½-mile tri-oval, about 35 minutes south of Cincinnati, is
scheduled for completion June 1, 2000.
The 200-lap Belterra Indy 300 will be telecast live on ESPN in its
entirety and broadcast nationwide on ESPN radio outlets, Carroll said.
The race takes its name from Belterra Resort, set to open in August
2000 in Vevay, Ind. The resort will include a 300-room hotel, a
riverboat casino on the Ohio River and an 18-hole golf course.
The IRL has not released the amount of prize money to be awarded
for the Belterra Indy 300, but sources close to the track and the IRL
say it will be between $750,000 and $1 million.
"This race and others like it are the reason we're building this
track," said Carroll, who says he has a commitment from the
Automobile Racing Club of America to open the initial season.
Carroll said he will continue to try to obtain a commitment from
NASCAR for both a Craftsman Truck Series Race and a Busch Grand
National event. He also hopes to have scheduled for next summer and
fall, NASCAR All-Pro and Dash Series events, and American Speed
Association races.
Joining Carroll in making the announcement at the Northern Kentucky
Convention Center were Michael Allen, chief operating officer of
Belterra Resort, Leo Mehl, executive director of the Indy Racing
League, and drivers Scott Goodyear, Scott Harrington (a Kentucky
native) and Scott Sharp.
"I told Leo Mehl and Tony George (IRL founder and president of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway) a year ago that Kentucky Speedway could
fill up for one of their events because this is a great market for
open-wheel racing. Now, to have Belterra Resort come in as the title
sponsor is truly fantastic," said Carroll.
Speedway construction is progressing rapidly. The compacted dirt
and gravel layers of the racing oval have been completed. Paving of
the pit row and the racing oval itself is scheduled to be completed
early next month.
The first phase of the new track will seat 65,000 and feature 50
luxury suites and a glass-enclosed restaurant seating 210.
Bob Queenan writes for the Cincinnati Post | |
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