ChiefsPlanet - Casino to be built at the Kansas Raceway

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Casino proposed at Kansas Speedway

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By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star I magine taking a dip in a swimming pool that has a full view of race cars roaring around turn two at Kansas Speedway.

Or how about taking a seat at the blackjack table or pulling the arm of a slot machine next to Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Helio Castroneves a few hours after they’ve won the pole? Or running into Danica Patrick at a fashionable boutique not far from her garage?
It all could happen if gaming and racing become partners at Kansas Speedway.

Kansas Speedway, in conjunction with the Cordish Co., has proposed a $600 million Speedway Hotel Casino that would overlook turn two of the track, which is host to the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series races this weekend.

While four other competing proposals to operate a casino in Wyandotte County are in the vicinity of Kansas Speedway, this one is a pair of dice’s throw from the checkered flag.

“Our core business is motor sports,” said Jeff Boerger, president of Kansas Speedway, “but we have to look at ways to enhance the facility, plus enhance an opportunity to continue our success.”
The sleek, glassy project — which must be approved by the Unified Government and Kansas Lottery Commission — includes a 300-room, five-star hotel with 50 suites and 275,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space, plus a large casino and convention space.

“There will be a tremendous synergy between the hotel casino entertainment complex and the speedway itself,” said Joe Weinberg, a Cordish Co. principal. “The retail entertainment and decks overlook the speedway, the convention space overlooks the speedway, as does the pool deck. You can be swimming and watch the race.

“We also expect it will serve to bring people into the county earlier for the race events, have them stay later, as well as attract people throughout the year.”
While the major sports leagues like to distance themselves from gambling, there is little question NASCAR has embraced the opportunity to bring racing and gaming enthusiasts together.

The Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Trucks series, as well as the National Hot Rod Association, run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which is about 20 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.

At Dover International Speedway in Delaware, site of two NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch weekends and harness racing for six months a year, a casino was built in 1995 — 26 years after the track opened — and the $200 million Dover Downs Hotel and Casino was built in 2002 with 232 rooms and expanded this year to 500.

In addition, Harrah’s has sponsored cars driven by A.J. Foyt and Robby Gordon, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck of Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan has been sponsored by The Orleans Hotel and now South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
“Our position is we allow for legal gaming companies to participate as team and track sponsors that meet our guidelines,” said NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter.

“We require any casino company that wants to be a sponsor in our sport to maintain ancillary facilities such as hotels, golf courses and spas.”
NASCAR had no concerns about Las Vegas when it began racing there in 1998.

“There was no hesitation,” Hunter said. “It’s a resort destination. People like to make a friendly wager. If they’re going to do it, we’d prefer they’d do it legally. There are so many activities that make it a family destination, with the entertainment and the restaurants and things to do.”
The IndyCar Series raced in Las Vegas during 1996-2000, and vice president John Griffin said he’s not concerned about a casino on the grounds of Kansas Speedway.

“It’s going to show that with some of these newer tracks, how they’ve become focal points of the community, and the track deserves credit for working with the community to build around the areas of the speedway,” Griffin said.

“Our concern would be if there would be a sports book involved more so than blackjack tables. We’ve been sensitive to off-shore gambling (sponsorships) on our cars and have vetoed that in the past. Any sponsorships had to say ‘Hotel and Casino.’ ”
Naturally, NASCAR and the IndyCar Series do not allow their competitors to bet on the sport, even at legal sports books in Las Vegas, where bets can be made on individual races and the Chase for the Nextel Cup as well as exotic wagering such as laps led, winning car numbers, winning manufacturer and even an over/under on the margin of victory.

Chuck Esposito, assistant vice president of race and sports book operations for Harrah’s Entertainment, based at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, said NASCAR betting has skyrocketed during the last five to 10 years, especially the week of the race at Las Vegas.
“Where we used to put up the Daytona 500 and maybe a few select races here and there, we’re now putting up every Cup race and every Busch race,” Esposito said. “You have customers now looking for us to put those races on the big screen at the sports book right next to a pro football game. That wasn’t the case five or 10 years ago.”

In Dover, race fans can watch the races from their suites at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino between visits to the casino.
“A lot of NASCAR fans like to gamble, too,” said Ed Sutor, president of Dover Downs Hotel and Casino. “I’m seeing more and more NASCAR shirts on the casino floor.”

Dover Downs makes sure it reserves plenty of parking spaces just for the casino, so on race day, when more than 100,000 people are at the speedway, other gamblers arrive after the start of the race and depart before it ends so they don’t get caught in traffic.
Neither NASCAR nor the IndyCar Series forbid their drivers from gaming in the casino.
“That’s up to the individuals,” Hunter said. “That’s a moral issue. We don’t try to regulate our guys’ moral issues. We hope if they gamble, they gamble responsibly.”

Griffin said: “We have a lot of trust in our drivers. And there are things in our rule books about behavior on and off the race track.”
And the drivers and team members enjoy playing a hand of blackjack or shooting some craps.
“Drivers are no different than anybody else,” NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer said.

“We just don’t have as much time. We love to have a good time, and to have an attraction like a casino would be a lot of fun.”

Bowyer, from Emporia, Kan., remembers when the area of Kansas Speedway was mere countryside when he was racing on dirt at Lakeside Speedway.

“Just to see the whole area develop … the mall, the Nebraska Furniture Mart, Cabela’s,” Bowyer said, “that just says a lot about the horsepower of NASCAR, and the attraction of it that brought it all out there.”