Seeing the Daytona 500 for himself convinced Aaron Reardon that Snohomish County is the best spot in the Pacific Northwest for a NASCAR track.
The county executive traveled to Daytona Beach, Fla., with a Washington contingent for a look at the Super Bowl of auto racing on Sunday. Two locations in Snohomish County have been considered as a possible site for a new National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing track, but other parts of the state – Thurston and Kitsap counties – are in the race as well.
Reardon and others from the state, including Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and state Sen. Tim Sheldon, were invited to the nation’s premier stock car race by International Speedway Corp. Officials from the company have been meeting for months with officials from throughout the state, evaluating potential locations for a new track.
A site near Marysville and the Arlington airport has been considered, as well as another near Monroe.
“I think it’s very doable,” Reardon said, adding that a C\v-mile or 1-mile NASCAR track here could draw crowds of 80,000 people for a four- to five-day event. “It’s easy to look at the sites that people are talking about out here and see what’s needed.”
Reardon said the visit gave him a good grip on what’s needed in Snohomish County to support a NASCAR complex.
The list includes improving roads and other infrastructure, public amenities such as open space and campgrounds for fans, shuttle services, plus more hotels and restaurants.
One of the first things the state would have to do is outline how infrastructure improvements could be financed. But Reardon said many of those road improvements will be needed whether a racetrack is built or not.
A NASCAR complex in Snohomish County would draw race fans not only from the Puget Sound region, but from across the state and Pacific Northwest. Reardon said he was surprised to see the number of people on his plane heading to Daytona Beach.
“The draw is amazing. There were people on my flight from Alaska,” he recalled. “All my flights to and from were full of people going to and from the Daytona 500.”
If a track is built here, it would host the biggest sporting event the region has ever seen, Reardon said. It would be bigger than the Goodwill Games in 1990 and bigger than college basketball’s Final Four.
“This is akin to the Super Bowl,” Reardon said.
Speedway officials have said a new track could bring annual revenues of $87 million, plus another $58 million in state and local tax revenue.
Reardon left for the trip Thursday and returned Monday. The county paid for his flight and hotel accommodations, but International Speedway officials paid for access to the race.
Reardon said he would meet with International Speedway officials Thursday for further talks.
Brian Kelly is a reporter for The Herald in Everett.
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