Long odds haven't gotten local officials down, but the challenges of luring a major tourist attraction to Lewis County might.
Plans to build a NASCAR race track in South Lewis County are not only tentative, they don't exist — yet.
Track developers met with county leaders last week to talk about potential sites, but the process of selection could take years, and Lewis County is not the only Northwest location under consideration. Lewis County is still on the list, however, and that, local officials say, is what is important.
Even the unflappable champion of economic development in Lewis County, Bill Lotto, knows that a development of this nature could bring big changes to the county.
"This would mean a tremendous boom in tourism," said Lotto, executive director of the Lewis County Economic Development Council. "You couldn't find a single event that would bring more tourism to Lewis County."
Nothing really stands in the way of such a development. In fact, plans for an 800- to 1,000-acre track located just south of Napavine don't sound much different from proposals made by the Sovran Development Group and Cardinal Glass Industries Inc., to invest in major industrial developments in that same area.
But it's not all a rosy picture. First, the county would have to be selected. Then, developers could be left standing in line for permits, water rights and zoning changes for years, according to Sandy Howard at the state Department of Ecology.
The two closest cities in South Lewis County, Napavine and Winlock, currently don't have water or sewage treatment capacity to service a major development of this nature. Finally, if chosen, actually building and running a money-making track isn't as easy as it sounds.
Napavine Mayor Gary McGuire told Napavine city councilors earlier this week that a racing stadium of this caliber would bring about 70,000 to 80,000 visitors to South Lewis County for each event, generating about $60 million in revenue for the surrounding cities and businesses as a result.
Research indicates that the number of full-time, year-round jobs would be in the range of 80 to 90. The expectation, however, would be for the track to draw two to three major races per year, and during those times about 2,200 people could likely find temporary work.
In the off-season, the track would be able to accommodate equestrian events, fairs, musical events and more, but it would probably see use only for 25 percent of the year, Lotto said. Businesses that sprung up around the track would see only a seasonal flow of tourism, meaning a big tax-base effect and only a modest job effect, he said.
The nearest NASCAR-caliber tracks even close to the size proposed for building somewhere in the Northwest are located in Las Vegas and in California. The 600-acre California Speedway, east of Los Angeles in Fontana, has been around for about five years, said Dennis Bickmeier, director of public relations for the speedway, owned by the International Speedway Corp.
It's not unusual for the 92,000 permanent grandstand seats and 1,800 infield recreational vehicle spaces to sell out during the track's six major weekends per year. The speedway has played host to the NASCAR Winston Cup, now the Nextel Cup, since the track opened.
Larry Miner, who has been an announcer at the South Sound Speedway near Rochester for 15 years, said he's skeptical about a track of this size.
"I doubt they would build a big track," he said.
For one thing, Miner said, the window of decent weather for track use in Washington falls between the end of July until the end of August. Most of those dates are already taken by other events scheduled at other tracks, he said.
In addition, no new tracks have been added in Northwest in many years, he said.
South Sound Speedway, which seats 4,000 spectators and is open about seven months of the year, was NASCAR-sanctioned from 1989 until 2002, Miner said. The speedway owner, however, chose to drop this when it got to be too expensive.
"Their purses (money paid to winners) increased to the point that you couldn't pay for the purse and make money on top of it," he said.
More than $30,000 was paid to drivers on NASCAR Northwest tour events this year, a 25 percent increase from last year.
Mark Wigginton is track manager at Portland International Raceway, a 1.96-mile, publicly owned racing track. He said new tracks, such as those built in the last few years in Kansas and Kentucky, are like gold mines.
"The economic development on the periphery of these things (tracks) is nothing short of amazing," he said, referring to the shopping centers, hotels and restaurants that spring up around tracks.
The Portland track, however, makes money by having as many events as possible — 570 per year, Wigginton said.
"I probably didn't have 10 days this year where I didn't have something scheduled," he said.
His track makes about $1.5 million per year.
Dian McClurg covers health and rural south and west Lewis County for The Chronicle. She may be reached at 807-8239, or by e-mail at dmcclurg@chronline.com. Mark Lawton covers economic and energy issues for The Chronicle. He may be reached at 807-8231, or by e-mail at mlawton@chronline.com.
