County comes up short in bid for NASCAR track

Kitsap County has apparently come up a few laps short in its pursuit of a NASCAR facility, as owner International Speedway Corp., has expressed a preference for the Marysville area.

“They have taken us off of the table,” Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council director David Porter confirmed on Monday. “They are committed to making Marysville work.”

While Kitsap lost this bid, it is no loser, according to Porter’s perspective.

“We made a world-class try,” he said. “The community came together with energy and commitment. We have a lot to be proud of. We raised the bar and proved we could play world class games.”

While this would appear to leave Kitsap and Pierce out in the cold, the also-rans have yet to accept defeat.

South Kitsap Commissioner Jan Angel, one of the biggest NASCAR boosters in county government, said she had a “plan B” for the property that she was not yet ready to reveal.

Additionally, she said choices with regard to NASCAR aren’t always final and that she would not give up on KItsap until ground was broken elsewhere.

Angel said that just because Snohomish County received the first bit it didn’t mean the track would be constructed there.

Snohomish, in fact, has seen a greater amount of potential citizen protests than Kitsap.

This summer, the county sponsored citizen survey showed overwhelming favor for the track, and no organized protest has emerged.

Angel reported only one negative comment of several dozen received.

North Kitsap Commissioner Chris Endresen said she didn’t expect any vocal protest until the submission of an actual proposal.

Both Central Kitsap Commission-er Patty Lent and Angel said that all the preparation done to accommodate NASCAR could benefit another interested party should the racing organization select another nearby site.

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