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Heeltoe6, you say Kansas City isn't a hotspot for racing, how wrong you are. I live in the Kansas City area and we had NASCAR themed bowling leagues here long before there was ever a hint that we would ever get a track. We also have several diecast car shops that do great business. Kansas City also has both a Ford and GM assembly plant which creates a foundation for a great NASCAR rivalry here. How many areas that have NASCAR Winston Cup dates have both a Ford and GM assembly plant? In many ways Kansas City is a better market for racing than most areas that already have big tracks, including a few in the south. ISC has indicated that they get a high percentage of people from the Kansas City area at Daytona.
As far as history, we held IndyCar races back in the 1920's. A.J. Foyt also got his first major USAC sprint car win at a track here in Kansas City. We once held NASCAR convertible division races. When the Kansas City track offered Personal Seat Licenses for sale, they sold out fairly quickly and they had to add more. These PSL's go for $500 to $1250 a piece. I know St. Louis pretty well because I travel there at least once a year. Oddly enough, I have talked to a few people there involved with after market ticket sales and they say St. Louis isn't big on racing which is surprising since the Wallace brothers and Ken Schrader are from there. Overall, Kansas City is a much better racing market than St. Louis and forget about Gateway holding a Winston Cup race, it just isn't possible from a logistics standpoint. The highway structure around the track is just too congestedand the track doesn't have enough outlet roads. I know because I have been there. Also note that they added some seats and still haven't sold the place out. The reasons: 1) St. Louis isn't big on racing and 2) Gateway is a nightmare to get out of even when there is only 40,000 people.
The bottom line is that St. Louis had the opportunity to get the big track that we got here and they couldn't mount an effort to get it built there. Part of this was the existence of Gateway. Gateway just isn't condusive for a Winston Cup race, it is Busch Grand National, IRL and CART material. St. Louis is a great city and in many ways in better than Kansas City but this is not one of them. St. Louis is big on the Cardinals, Rams, Blues and Budweiser and that is about it.
[This message has been edited by Joe Fan (edited 28 May 2000).]
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