FUMES #461

September 3, 2008

The France family is up to its old tricks in The Heartland.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. There's a story flying under the radar out in Kansas that the powers that be within NASCAR would prefer you didn't know about - at least until the deal is done, that is - but it illuminates everything about what's really driving NASCAR these days and why the fundamental changes that really need to be made to the NASCAR circus are not only not being made, but are being swept aside in the interest of corporate greed.

The reports trickling out of Kansas are revealing, to say the least. It seems there's a bid out to operate the state-owned casino in Wyandotte County. According to the Associated Press, a 2007 state law provides for four casinos, including one in Wyandotte County. The law calls for the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board to choose the winner based on which applicant would bring the most revenue to the state, increase tourism and be in the state's best interest. Kansas Entertainment LLC is in competition with three other bidders to capture that prize - which is a staggering 15-year deal. The prime mover behind Kansas Entertainment LLC? None other than Lesa France Kennedy, president and vice chairperson of the Board of Directors for International Speedway Corporation.

In the course of the bid process, it seems that the president of the Kansas Speedway, Jeff Boerger, has all but assured the state that if Kansas Entertainment LLC is awarded the license to operate the Wyandotte casino, the Kansas Speedway will be awarded another Sprint Cup date, no problem (the speedway is part of the partnership). Boerger also promised that the speedway would build a 2-1/4-mile road course in its infield, designed for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and events by various sports car clubs. Boerger said the track has approval from its parent company, International Speedway Corp., to construct the road course. He also said he saw little problem in transferring a Sprint Cup race from one of the other 11 ISC tracks to Kansas. "We have moved races from one track to the other in the past so that's why I'm confident we can do it," he said. Kansas Entertainment also plans to put a $705-million Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at the No. 2 turn of the 1-1/2-mile D-shaped oval track.

Oh, but that's not all. The speedway supposedly also has a letter of commitment from Camping World (a prominent NASCAR sponsor), the world's largest retailer of RV equipment, to hold its annual "Heart of America RV and Outdoor Rally" there starting in 2010. The rally would bring at least 6,000 people to the area, Boerger said, and generate an annual economic impact of some $10 million. But all of it - the rally, the hotel, the road course, and most important, the second Sprint Cup race date - is contingent on the state choosing the Kansas Entertainment LLC partnership over the three other bidders. "This is not pie in the sky. This is not wishful thinking. This is something you can bank that's going to happen," Boerger said, as reported by the Associated Press. "These are real economic opportunities for the state." Cozy, no?

It's really no secret that the France family has wielded its power to award race dates, take away race dates and generally lord over race tracks - or at least attempt to - at every opportunity. And their maneuvering has changed the landscape of the NASCAR schedule accordingly. Just ask the ownership group of the Kentucky Speedway, which has been in a protracted legal battle with NASCAR to get a Sprint Cup race date at its facility. And now that Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports has agreed to buy the facility, it is assumed that Smith will get the race date from NASCAR eventually, even though NASCAR's attorneys did everything in their power to prevent Kentucky businessman Jerry Carrol and his group from getting even as much as a whiff of a Sprint Cup date, arguing that NASCAR and ISC are separate entities, and that track dates are something that can't just be capriciously awarded without any rhyme or reason.

Which makes what is going on in Kansas even more interesting, because Boerger's comments seem to prove emphatically that NASCAR and ISC are not separate entities, blowing NASCAR's perpetual legal stance to smithereens. (I assume that the Kentucky Speedway anti-trust lawyers found those comments to be quite interesting.)

The Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board will hear from the four applicants next week and decide Sept. 18-19 who gets the contracts.

But in the meantime, we're all left to ponder what NASCAR really stands for these days.

It's not about the integrity of the sport or the "tradition" (they wouldn't know the importance of tradition if it bit them in the ass, by the way) or "the fans" for that matter.

And it's ultimately not even about their so-called marketing "partners" or the manufacturers who provide them with such financial security.

No, the NASCAR marketing "machine" is an extension of the France family's vision for "more."

More money. More power. More control. And more greed.

What about the racing you say?

You must be joking.

Racing has absolutely nothing to do with it.

(Courtesy of ALMS)
Publisher's Note: Phil Hill, one of only two Americans to become a Formula One champion, died on August 28, at the age of 81. He died at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. He had suffered from Parkinson’s disease and another degenerative neurological disorder. Hill not only won the F1 World Championship in 1961, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring three times each. He also had many memorable sports car victories, too, including his last race win in the BOAC 1000 at Brands Hatch in 1967, co-driving one of Jim Hall's Chaparral 2F Coupes with Mike Spence. There have been a lot of great tributes to Phil Hill in the last week, but if you really want to understand the man, look up the article entitled Hamlet in a Helmet, the wonderful piece by his dear friend Denise McCluggage, which first appeared in Automobile Quarterly in 1962. I remember reading that article back when it came out, and from that moment forward I became fascinated by the Grand Prix world. Phil was a highly intelligent and compelling figure, and the McCluggage piece captured him beautifully. I had my own personal remembrance of Mr. Hill that I wanted to share with you readers. Back in 1982, I was assigned to pick Phil up from the Detroit Metro airport and deliver him to a personal appearance at a function in Novi, as a favor for Eric Dahlquist's L.A.-based PR firm at the time. I remember the night as if it was yesterday. It was a dark, late-spring evening with storms threatening all around. I was in an Audi Coupe GT, and knowing that I would be picking up a legend and one of my all-time heroes, I took the time to wash it, and I even put on a fresh application of RainX (which I had just recently discovered and still use religiously to this day). I wanted it to be immaculate. When I arrived at the passenger pick-up, there was Phil Hill standing there in khakis, a sweater and carrying a small bag. Since he didn't know me or what I'd be driving, I wheeled up, got out, called his name, introduced myself, we shook hands and then we were off for a 30-minute all-freeway ride. We exchanged some small talk about his flight, etc., and then half-way through the trip it started raining - hard - and all of a sudden Phil was getting all animated and agitated. "What the Hell is that?" he said, his eyes wide with concern. And then I realized what was happening. With a fresh coat of RainX at 80mph there is no need to use the wipers, as RainX veterans can attest. And since it was pitch black, you couldn't even see the rain on the steeply raked windshield either. "It's raining," I said. "Then why aren't you using your wipers? I can't even see the rain!" He had to shout back, because it was one of those down pours that noisily pound the sheet metal. "It's the RainX," I said. "RainX? What the hell is RainX?" I quickly explained what it was and how you put it on and that it was basically the coolest thing since sliced bread because you can see without using your wipers, and see better in the rain on top of it, etc. "RainX!" He was almost yelling now. "RainX! Why I haven't heard of this?" He was incredulous that he hadn't heard of it. "It hasn't been out that long, but it works really well," I said. "RainX! My goodness if I had had this at Le Mans, at night, in the rain, oh my gosh I can't believe it! RainX! This will transform racing!" He talked non-stop for the rest of the ride and rattled off the times he raced in the rain in closed and open cockpit cars and how this development would revolutionize racing. It was a brief but memorable ride, and I couldn't help but grin the entire way. When we arrived at our destination, he thanked me profusely, and I told him that it was my pleasure to meet him and that I was happy to do it. And the last thing I remember was him going into the hotel entrance muttering "RainX!" to himself. Phil Hill was a consummate gentleman who had many interests beyond racing, but his gifted ability behind the wheel will be what most people remember about him. His close friends, however, will always talk about how wonderful and personable he was, as the countless tributes that have been written since his passing have reiterated over and over again in the past week. I will always remember Phil Hill as one of my childhood heroes, who happened to turn out to be the very nice gentleman I was lucky enough to pick up at the airport one evening. A man who still bubbled with enthusiasm about cars and racing - and life. Phil Hill is survived by his wife Alma, son Derek of Culver City (pictured above with his dad at the 2006 Goodwood Revival), daughter Vanessa Rogers of Phoenix, stepdaughter Jennifer Delaney of Niwot, Colo., and four grandchildren. - PMD