N.J. next pit stop for NASCAR?
By JOHN BRENNAN/STAFF WRITER
NASCAR's interest in building a racetrack in the Meadowlands is revving up again.
Executives for International Speedway Corp. -- the leading NASCAR track builder -- held "informal preliminary discussions" recently with New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority Chairman Carl Goldberg, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.
Goldberg and an ISC spokesman would not comment about the talks Tuesday.
But details of the proposal already have begun to emerge: a 1.25-mile oval speedway to be constructed in a concentric ring around The Meadowlands Racetrack, the complex's horse racing facility. The sources said the track would fit into the site, even with the just-started construction of a $1.4 billion Giants/Jets football stadium between Giants Stadium and the racetrack.
Other hurdles, however, mean that the proposal is a long way from becoming a reality.
George Zoffinger, the sports authority president, said a local advisory committee appointed in 2002 to analyze potential development at the sports complex expressed clear opposition to NASCAR, a sport where races can draw 100,000 people on one summer weekend day.
"[ISC] will have to be convincing in order to overcome noise and traffic issues, as well as community resistance, that have been apparent for quite a while," Zoffinger said.
State Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, who served on that committee, agreed.
"They would need to embark on the most magnificent public relations campaign you could ever imagine," he said.
NASCAR also would need the approval of the Giants and Jets as well as Colony Capital, which is building the Xanadu retail and entertainment facility at the Continental Arena site. Xanadu and the Giants/Jets stadium joint venture have veto power over new development at the sports complex.
But auto racing officials repeatedly have said they are determined to add the Big Apple market to their list of sites.
Lesa France Kennedy, the president of ISC and the brother of NASCAR Chairman Brian France, said in December that the collapse of a two-year effort to build a track on Staten Island did not signal a withdrawal from an attempt to find a home for the sport in the metropolitan area.
"Our enthusiasm for the metropolitan New York market is in no way dampened, and we continue to view the region as a prime location for a major motorsports facility," France Kennedy said.
Construction of a NASCAR track likely would coincide with a massive renovation of the Meadowlands horse track -- a move that two sources said could pave the way for development of a lucrative slot-machine component if opposition from South Jersey elected officials and Atlantic City could be overcome.
The future of horse racing in New Jersey has been threatened by the emergence of "racinos" at Yonkers Raceway and near Philadelphia, with a portion of the casino revenues used to boost horse racing purses substantially.
The auto racing proposal could be part of a vision that would see Xanadu, the new stadium, a football-themed mixed-use facility, a rail link, a NASCAR track and a slot-machine parlor all opening for business in a new Meadowlands during the next 10 years.
Giants co-owner John Mara said he has been told that there is room for the auto racing track as well as his new stadium.
"We wouldn't necessarily object, as long as the right circumstances were present," Mara said. "The scheduling would be the first issue, plus use of the parking facilities and working out some marketing issues."
A Xanadu spokesman did not comment on the NASCAR possibility. Colony Capital, which took over as the Xanadu developer from Mills Corp. last year, has in its developer's agreement a right to build a hotel at the racetrack if video lottery terminals or slot machines are installed at the track.
Many NASCAR tracks -- including Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., and Dover International Speedway in Delaware -- offer two annual races in the Nextel Cup, stock car racing's leading competition.
East Rutherford Mayor James Cassella said he was surprised five years ago at how much positive feedback for NASCAR he got from residents along with the expected criticism.
"I guess you either love it or hate it," Cassella said.
"Certainly NASCAR would have to get across better this time that this is only a once or twice a year thing. And even so, with all the traffic and the noise and everything else they're building here, I'm not sure the area can handle it."
By JOHN BRENNAN/STAFF WRITER
NASCAR's interest in building a racetrack in the Meadowlands is revving up again.
Executives for International Speedway Corp. -- the leading NASCAR track builder -- held "informal preliminary discussions" recently with New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority Chairman Carl Goldberg, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.
Goldberg and an ISC spokesman would not comment about the talks Tuesday.
But details of the proposal already have begun to emerge: a 1.25-mile oval speedway to be constructed in a concentric ring around The Meadowlands Racetrack, the complex's horse racing facility. The sources said the track would fit into the site, even with the just-started construction of a $1.4 billion Giants/Jets football stadium between Giants Stadium and the racetrack.
Other hurdles, however, mean that the proposal is a long way from becoming a reality.
George Zoffinger, the sports authority president, said a local advisory committee appointed in 2002 to analyze potential development at the sports complex expressed clear opposition to NASCAR, a sport where races can draw 100,000 people on one summer weekend day.
"[ISC] will have to be convincing in order to overcome noise and traffic issues, as well as community resistance, that have been apparent for quite a while," Zoffinger said.
State Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, who served on that committee, agreed.
"They would need to embark on the most magnificent public relations campaign you could ever imagine," he said.
NASCAR also would need the approval of the Giants and Jets as well as Colony Capital, which is building the Xanadu retail and entertainment facility at the Continental Arena site. Xanadu and the Giants/Jets stadium joint venture have veto power over new development at the sports complex.
But auto racing officials repeatedly have said they are determined to add the Big Apple market to their list of sites.
Lesa France Kennedy, the president of ISC and the brother of NASCAR Chairman Brian France, said in December that the collapse of a two-year effort to build a track on Staten Island did not signal a withdrawal from an attempt to find a home for the sport in the metropolitan area.
"Our enthusiasm for the metropolitan New York market is in no way dampened, and we continue to view the region as a prime location for a major motorsports facility," France Kennedy said.
Construction of a NASCAR track likely would coincide with a massive renovation of the Meadowlands horse track -- a move that two sources said could pave the way for development of a lucrative slot-machine component if opposition from South Jersey elected officials and Atlantic City could be overcome.
The future of horse racing in New Jersey has been threatened by the emergence of "racinos" at Yonkers Raceway and near Philadelphia, with a portion of the casino revenues used to boost horse racing purses substantially.
The auto racing proposal could be part of a vision that would see Xanadu, the new stadium, a football-themed mixed-use facility, a rail link, a NASCAR track and a slot-machine parlor all opening for business in a new Meadowlands during the next 10 years.
Giants co-owner John Mara said he has been told that there is room for the auto racing track as well as his new stadium.
"We wouldn't necessarily object, as long as the right circumstances were present," Mara said. "The scheduling would be the first issue, plus use of the parking facilities and working out some marketing issues."
A Xanadu spokesman did not comment on the NASCAR possibility. Colony Capital, which took over as the Xanadu developer from Mills Corp. last year, has in its developer's agreement a right to build a hotel at the racetrack if video lottery terminals or slot machines are installed at the track.
Many NASCAR tracks -- including Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., and Dover International Speedway in Delaware -- offer two annual races in the Nextel Cup, stock car racing's leading competition.
East Rutherford Mayor James Cassella said he was surprised five years ago at how much positive feedback for NASCAR he got from residents along with the expected criticism.
"I guess you either love it or hate it," Cassella said.
"Certainly NASCAR would have to get across better this time that this is only a once or twice a year thing. And even so, with all the traffic and the noise and everything else they're building here, I'm not sure the area can handle it."