Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Dec. 29, 2005, edition 1 / Page 21
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1^ 5C €>•0 SPORTS/®!)* Clarion* #a«t Thursday, December 29, 2005 Competing SJHALL Cox Ne%vs Service W ith the passing of the holiday sea son, NASCAR officials \vill be likely turning their attention to selecting a city to host the hall of fame. Last month NASCAR’s top boss, CEO Brian France, said, “Probably after the holidays, well be negotiating and try to see if we can make some more progress and announce something in the first quar ter [of 2006].” France has insisted that there’s no clear fiont-runner among the five towns that want to be racing’s Coopersto^vn, N.Y. Five cities are competing to hold the at traction: Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Daytona Beach, Fla.; and Kansas City Kan. Some in Atlanta seem to believe the contest has been narrowed to two big Southern cities, Atlanta and Charlotte. “There are still five cities in the run ning, but we think we’re in a real dogfight wth North Carolina,” said Paul Kelman, executive vice president of Central Atlanta Progress, the business group try ing to bring NASCAR’s main attraction to Atianta. Charlotte, home to Lowe’s Motor Speedway Hendrick Motorsports and the late Dale Earnhardt, has been the natural choice for the hall of fame among many racing fans. But Atlanta’s bid, at least on paper, has better numbers. Charlotte draws about 330,000 conven tioneers a year. Atlanta brings in 3 million. Early in the process, Charlotte guessed its hall of fame could attract 400,000 visi tors a year. Atlanta’s NASCAR hall, not far fix>m the new Georgia Aquarium, ex pects 1 million. Here’s a detailed look at the five cities competing for the hall. DAMON HIGGINS / Cox News Service Daytona International Speedway is home to the Daytona 500 (above), NASCAR’s most important race. Daytona Beach, Fla., is known as the “Birthplace of Speed." Daytona Beach Why Daytona should get it: 'Hie city is the home of NASCAR headquarters and the France family which controls the sport. Tliere already are two mqjor NASCAR events, the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400, at Daytona International Speedway Why Daytona shouldn’t get it: The city already has an attraction, Daytona USA, and public support api- pears to be lagging for another NASCAR-related attraction. Without government support, many consider Daytona Beach’s bid futile. Sports background: Daytona Beach is kno^vn as the “Birthplace of Speed” because of the speed trials and beach races that were held there from the earliest days of the automobile. TTie city also is home to NASCAR’s Super Bowl, the Daytona 500. Tlie bid: The Florida Legislature did not authorize a requested $30 million tax break for the hall, but or ganizers already had based their finances on private-sector funds. The city has hired an architectural finn to design a hall that would cost more than $70 million. If Daytona Beach is selected, many say the hall would be built on property on, or next to, Daytona International Speedway NASCAR fan support: More than 200,000 fans come to Daytona twice a year for NASCAR races, and tens of thousands show up for the annual Bike Week festivities. Overall, 9 million people visit the area each year. City leaders expect the hall would attract at least 400,000 people annually Other tourist sites: Tb the east are the popular beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west are Disney World and other Orlando attractions. Atlanta Why Atlanta should get it: A downtown location near Centenni^ Olympic Park, the Georgia Aquarium and new World of Coca-Cola could drive larger crowds than anywhere else. Atlanta’s strong corporate support of NASCAR should also help. Why Atlanta shouldn’t get it: NASCAR is not as identified with Atlanta as it is \vith, say, Charlotte or Daytona Beach, Fla. Sports background: Atlanta is the only city in the running \vith four major league fran chises, The bid: Atlanta hopes to put the hall of fame across the street from Centennial Olympic Park on land owned by Tbd TYimer. The hall would cost about $92 million, wth as much as $25 million projected to come from the state, $5 million from the city through special tax breaks for building downto\vn, $30 million from corpo rate sponsors and the rest from bank loans, according to state Cox News Service Atlanta proposes putting the hall of fame across the street from Centennial Olympic Park, near the new Georgia Aquarium. documents. Atlanta’s bid team believes the attraction could draw 1 million visitors a year. NASCAR fan support: TTie tsvo Nextel Cup weekends at Atlanta Motor Speedway have a $455 million impact on the area economy, according to one study Other tourist sites: The grand plan is for a NASCAR hall of fame to work in tandem with other attractions such as Centennial Olympic Park, Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca- Cola, CNN Center, Georgia World Congress Center, Geoi^a •Domg,-Pfaihps Ai'ena and~T\u'nei Pieltb. Richmond Charlotte Why Charlotte should get it: Charlotte has become the hub of NASCAR racing, with approximately 90 percent of racing teams wth headquarters there. The city’s new slo gan, “Racing was built here. Racing belongs here,” is hard to dispute. The city and surrounding area already are pop ular with fans searching for race-related tourist attrac tions. Why Charlotte shouldn’t get it: Numerous race shops already have their o^vn museums and gift shops, so the hall of fame’s impact could be diluted. And with NASCAR’s effort to become more national, it might not make sense to build its hall in an area where the market already is satu rated. Sports background: Charlotte has professional teams in football and basketball, but NASCAR is the city’s No. 1 sport. The first top-level series race was held at the Charlotte Fairgrounds in 1949. In the 1970s, before NASCAR expanded its schedule, the city was near many tracks where races ^vere held, so teams began building race shops there. The bid: Charlotte has picked a downtown site near the convention center, hired a renowned architectural firm (I.M. Pei) and persuaded the state Legislature to raise the hotel-motel tax and channel the money to the hall, which is expected to cost more than $130 million. The federal gov ernment is allowing the state to raise $20 million by selling acreage al a highway interchange next to the proposed hall of fame'site. Race track owner Bruton Smith told reporters in Charlotte he would pledge $50 million toward a mono- rail project, which would connect the hall to Lowe’s Motor Spe^way Smith owns six tracks, including Lowe’s and Atlanta Motor Speedway NASCAR fan support: The three race weekends at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, headlined by two Nextel Cup points races and NASCAR’s all-star event, draw more than 150,000 fans per race. But there are empty seats, which track officials blame on a slumping textile industry in the Carolinas. Why Richmond should get it: Richmond believes it offers the best lo cation, near Washington and other mqjor population centers. More than 50 percent of the U.S. population is wthin a one-day drive of Richmond. Why Richmond shouldn’t get it: Richmond was not among the four cities — Atlanta, Chariotte, Da34ona Beach and Kansas City — ini tially invited to bid for the attraction. This could indicate it started as a long shot. Sports background: Richmond International Raceway is the sec ond-oldest stop on the Nextel Cup tour, hosting an event since 1953 and two per year since 1959. Richmond also is the longtime home of the Braves’ top minor league team, the Richmond Braves. The bid: A nonprofit group called \Trgimans Racing for the Hall of Fame is helping the Economic Development Authority of Henrico County wth the bid. The group plans to offer NASCAR several loca tions, including one at the raceway Part of the pitch has been a postcfud campaign asking \%ginian8 to let NASCAR know of their support for the project. The financing for the hall probably would be a mix of private and public sources. NASCAR fan support: The 107,097-seat track has sold out 27 con secutive Nextel Cup races. According to track officials, apprcodmately 2.5 million fans from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries have attended races there. Other tourist sites: The Viiginia state Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson, historic homes and neighborhoods; Civil War sites and mu seums; art, science and children’s museums. Kansas City Why Kansas City should get it: NASCAR wants to speed growth beyond its Southeastern roots, and Kansas City’s loca tion in the center of the country would make a statement about the sport’s national vi sion. Why Kansas City shouldn’t get it: It would be risky for NASCAR to put its hall of fame so far fix)m its roots and histor ical fan base. Sports background: Kansas City is a rivo- state metro area that in one state (Kansas) has the state-of-the-art Kansas Speedway and in the other (Missouri) has two mqjor league sports franchises, the football CTiiefs and the baseball Royals. Tlie bid: Kansas City has a high-traffic site picked out next to Kansas Speedway the 400-acre, $730 million Village West retail and Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Kansas City entertainment development. Kansas City- based HOK Sport+Venue+Event — archi tect of many of the country’s highest^profile sports venues of recent decades — has signed on to design the project if Kansas City lands it. The bidding group hasn’t said how the estimated $100 million project would be financed, but believes the area’s success in getting the $250 million track built lends credence to its prc«pects, NASCAR fan support: Kansas Speedway opened in 2001 and had sold out races in ite fij^t four seasons, igniting massive economic activity in the surrounding Village West area. Nearly 82,000 season tickets have been sold this year. The track is attempting to land a second Nextel Cup event. Other tourist sites: The still-growing Village West development includes Cabela’s — “The world’s foremost outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear’’ — which has a 180,000-square-foot showroom. In addition to the track and the thriving retail and en tertainment attractions, the Village West area includes the Kansas City T-Bones minor league baseball stadium. Kansas City, noted for its fountains, has sold out races in its first four seasons at Kansas Speedway. Capsule re ports prepared by Rick Minter and Tim Tucker /Cox News Service NOTEBOOK New Craftsman Truck Series logo follows TO Years Tough’ campaign Cox News Service The NASCAR Craftsman TVuck Series will carry a new look into the 2006 season. The series has unveiled a redesigned logo that ^vill be used in all series advertis ing, mar keting and promotional materials. The de- tant as the series itself con tinues to show .dramatic growth in its second decade,” said Roger VanDerSnick, NASCAR vice president of marketing. The 2005 series logo high lighted the anniversary “10 Years Tbugh” campaign, which marked the series’ first decade. sign en hances the logo carried by the series in 2004 and features the same Craftsman red color that has identified the series since 1996. Craftsman earlier this year announced extension of that sponsorship for another five years through the 2010 season. “Evolving the identity of one of America’s most mccit- ing forms of racing is impor- Double duty for Busch Hendrick Motorsports has announced that 20()5 Nextel Cup rookie of the year K>4e Busch will drive the No. 5 Lowe’s-sponsored Chevrolet in every Busch Series race in 2006. Busch is the sixth driver to commit to full Nextel Cup and Busch programs in 2006, joining Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Denny Hamlin and J. J. Yeley Get the refund you deserve. A BIGGER ONE. 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The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 29, 2005, edition 1
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