Kansas Speedway casino project approved; ISC to ask for second Cup date at track
Hendrick Motorsports' Mark Martin (5) battles teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) for position at Kansas Speedway in October.
// David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
Kansas Speedway is back on track to get a second Sprint Cup race each year after the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board gave its approval Tuesday for the construction of a casino overlooking Turn 2 of the track.
As part of its casino proposal, track owner International Speedway Corp. said it will ask NASCAR to move a second Cup date to Kansas. NASCAR approval for the addition of a second Cup race is considered highly likely because the France family operates NASCAR and also owns a majority of voting stock in ISC.
Subject to background investigations and licensing by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, ISC and partner Penn National Gaming plan to break ground during the second half of 2010 and have the casino open in the first quarter of 2012. ISC officials have previously stated they hoped for the second Cup date to be awarded to Kansas in 2011.
ISC has not announced which of its tracks the race would be moved from. It currently has two Cup races at Daytona, Talladega, Richmond, Michigan, Phoenix, Martinsville and Auto Club Speedway in California. It has one race at Darlington, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland, Homestead-Miami and Kansas.
The initial phase of the new facility, budgeted at $386 million, according to a news release, would include a 100,000-square-foot casino floor with capacity for 2,300 slot machines and 86 table games, a lounge and a variety of dining and entertainment options. Additional project phases, including a hotel, expanded gaming space, a spa, convention center and entertainment retail district, have been put on the master plan and will be developed based on market demand. The cost of the additional phases will be approximately $400 million.
