Kentucky Speedway

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Kentucky Speedway

Location	Sparta, Kentucky
Track length	1.5 miles (2.4 kilometres)
Track shape	Tri-Oval
Banking	Turns - 14° Tri-Oval - 8-10° Straight - 4°
Major events	NASCAR Busch Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Indy Racing League
Capacity	66,000 (Stands)
Address	5120 Sparta Pike, Sparta, KY 41086
Owner

Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5 mile motor speedway located in north-central Kentucky, near the community of Sparta, Kentucky; approximately halfway between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, and is additionally 70 miles from another fairly sizable market, Lexington, Kentucky. The track was designed to host a NASCAR Nextel Cup race and has hosted NASCAR Busch Series and Craftsman Truck series races, as well as IRL races. However, NASCAR officials have refused any discussion of a Nextel Cup race being moved there.

In July 2005, Kentucky Speedway filed a lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation, (ISC) claiming that they violated federal antitrust laws by not allowing tracks to bid for NASCAR races, be it they meet the necessary requirements. This lawsuit was filed a year after Francis Ferko, a Speedway Motorsports shareholder, successfully sued NASCAR and ISC, forcing NASCAR to eliminate the prestigious Southern 500 in Darlington, SC, in favour of a second race at Texas Motor Speedway, as demanded by the terms of the lawsuit. Track officials used the Ferko case as precedent for the lawsuit.

NASCAR asked that the suit be dismissed or moved to Florida, home of NASCAR headquarters, but instead the Federal Court decided the case should procede in Kentucky courts. Hearings on the issue are expected in 2006.

In response to the Kentucky Speedway's lawsuit, NASCAR fans and union members of UNITE HERE and Teamsters, gathered over 40,000 signitures asking NASCAR to severe ties with the Kentucky Speedway while the lawsuit proceeds. The petition rasies concerns that if the lawsuit is sucessful, than the competetive bidding process it advocates could cause ticket prices to rise and smaller tracks could lose their races.

There has also been talk that Kentucky Speedway owners might purchase Pocono Raceway and move one of its Nextel Cup races to Kentucky. However, the Mattioli family, which owns both Pocono Raceway and South Boston Speedway, and manages the Music City Motorplex, has so far shown no interest in selling that superspeedway.

Both of Kentucky's major 300-mile races (NBS, IRLICS) are sponsored by Meijer.

[edit] Current Races

ARCA cars at Kentucky

• NASCAR Busch Series - Meijer 300 presented by Oreo
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series - Built Ford Tough 225 presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers
• Indy Racing League - Meijer Indy 300 presented by Coca-Cola and Secret
• ARCA RE/MAX Series - Harley-Davidson of Cincinnati 150
• ARCA RE/MAX Series - WLWT Channel 5-150

[edit] See also

• List of NASCAR race tracks

[edit] External links

• Kentucky Speedway Official Site
• Kentucky Speedway Page on NASCAR.com
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 38.70964° -84.91624°
  • WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Local
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth