Hatfield to sponsor NASCAR track bill
Saturday, February 10, 2007 12:11 AM PST
By Don Jenkins
Printable version
E-mail this articleOLYMPIA --- With no Kitsap County senator willing to introduce a bill to build a NASCAR track near Bremerton, state Sen. Brian Hatfield said Friday he will sponsor the legislation.
"Some people are scratching their heads and asking, 'What's in it for you?' Nothing is in it for me," said Hatfield, a Raymond Democrat who represents portions of Cowlitz and Pacific counties and all of Wahkiakum County. "To me, it's jobs and economic development and keeping Washington on the map."
Florida-based International Speedway Corp. proposes to build a $368 million racetrack with private and public funds. The public's share would be $164 million from sales taxes and $24 million from a ticket tax.
Democratic Rep. Geoff Simpson, who represents a portion of King County, introduced the proposal this week in the House.
Hatfield will be the prime sponsor of an identical bill in the Senate. Hatfield said the bill was being circulated among senators Friday and that he expected about a half dozen to sign on as co-sponsors.
Simpson's House Bill 2062 attracted 19 co-sponsors, but none represent the three legislative districts in Kitsap County.
With concerns about the racetrack's affect on traffic and public safety, local support for the project has been lacking. Kitsap County commissioners are cool to the idea.
Hatfield said the racetrack does have a prominent local supporter --- Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who once represented Kitsap County in the Legislature.
Owen requested lawmakers consider the proposal, saying earlier this month that having a NASCAR track "would be like bringing two Super Bowls to the state of Washington every year."
Hatfield was Owen's legislative liaison for two years before being appointed to the Senate in November.
"I've been following this for two years, and it's a darn good idea," Hatfield said.
"I know there are concerns about helping 'rich sports owners,' but when you have a corporation looking at Washington, you need to take it seriously and do what you can to get them here," he said.
Hatfield said he was asked by a legislator what he would think of a NASCAR track in his district. "I said, 'I would be pushing for it much harder.' "
The legislation would not require the track to be built near Bremerton, though Hatfield said he believes track promoters are serious when they say they have no other site selected. The location would allow NASCAR to connect with latte drinking Seattle urbanites, he said.
"They're trying to get into a whole new demographic."
The racetrack proposal failed to get a legislative sponsor last year.
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said financing a NASCAR track was "not a priority" for Senate Democrats.
But, she added, "it's not really my style to say, 'No, that's not happening,' until I see what the proposal is and who the proponents are and what the stakeholders think about."
House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, was less encouraging this week. Asked about the racetrack, he pulled out a Wall Street Journal article sent to him by a legislator describing the rowdy crowds at the Talledega Speedway in Alabama.
The article reported that "hard-drinking" fans "whoop it up for days."
"This is an example of the kind of contact I've had from (House members) about NASCAR," he said.
Hatfield recalled that the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks faced resistance when they approached lawmakers in the 1990s about new stadiums. "Those proposals were 'dead on arrival,' " said Hatfield, who was then a House member.
Eventually, public money went toward building Safeco Field and Qwest Field.
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