PENSKES TRYING FOR SPEEDWAY DISNEYLAND; HISTORY HASN'T BEEN KIND TO AREA TRACKS.Byline: Bill Schlotter Daily News Staff Writer Roger Penske Roger Penske (born February 20, 1937 in Shaker Heights, Ohio) is the owner of a very successful automobile racing team Penske Racing, the Penske Corporation, and other automotive related businesses. doesn't know which race track is the country's best, but he is confident that during Sunday's NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. California 500, his shiny new California Speedway The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to that of "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. It is located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. in Fontana will charge to the front of the pack. ``I would hope that after (this weekend) we're going to the top of the list,'' Penske said. Penske Motor Sports, Inc., run by his son Greg, has spent more than $110 million in that pursuit. But while the California Speedway game plan seems creative and early fan support encouraging, the Penskes are well aware they are prospecting a market where others have gone bust. Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario Motor Speedway located in Ontario, California, was a 2.5-mile race track built similar to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Designed by California born architect Walter Ted Tyler, the track opened in 1970, and was considered state of the art at the time. , just a few miles west of Fontana, closed in 1980 after spending 10 years trying to escape its initial debt. Nearby Riverside International Raceway lasted more than 20 years before finally being gobbled up by developers more interested in commerce than racing. So what makes the Penskes think they can stay the course where others have skidded into the wall? Racing in all its many forms is enjoying a surge in fan interest. NASCAR racing The NASCAR Racing series of video games, developed by Papyrus, started in 1994 and ended with the release of NASCAR Racing 2003 Season in 2003. Later NASCAR games were released by Electronic Arts, who took over the official sport license. , up 43 percent in attendance between 1990 and 1994, is particularly popular. ``Our timimg is right,'' Roger Penske said. ``The sport is really blossoming.'' Penske said another of his tracks - Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3.22 km), moderate-banked, D shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres [1] near Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. - had just 16,000 seats back in the 1970s, when Ontario was struggling to find an audience. Last Sunday, more than 140,000 fans attended NASCAR's Miller 400. ``It's become the biggest sporting event in the state of Michigan,'' Penske said. Early attendance figures suggest fan interest is high as well in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , where the Penskes figure 17 million people live within a 2-1/2-hour drive of the speedway and the nearest major speedway competition is in Northern Calfornia and Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. . The 71,000 grandstand seats for Sunday's main event sold out two months ago. Projections call for around 200,000 fans for the three-day card. Just 2,000 to 3,000 tickets remain for a CART Indy car race scheduled in September. The Penskes also figure they have learned from their experiences at the Michigan track and their Nazareth Speedway Nazareth Speedway was an auto racing track in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania which operated from the 1910s to 2004. The track is often associated with local drivers Mario and Michael Andretti. It was associated with Frankie Schneider in its earlier dirt track history. in Pennsylvania. And what they have learned, they say, is that customer service is the way to success. ``The execution here will be the key,'' Roger Penske said. Execution is Greg Penske's responsibility. And the younger Penske said he has modeled his efforts after Disneyland. ``They've done a lot of things right over the years,'' Penske said. ``It's clean and people feel good about taking their families there.'' The amenities are plentiful: 71 luxury boxes, 10 concession buildings, 50 restrooms, five first-aid stations, 20 parking trams to bring fans from the parking lots to the grandstand. And Penske hopes that by providing 32,000 paved parking spaces - all free, thus avoiding time-consuming parking-ticket sales - and four public entrances, fans will be able to get in and out of the speedway with a minimum of delay and thus want to come back. The Penskes also spent about $2 million to have a MetroLink train station built near the speedway to help ease auto traffic. Just as important as fan approval is corporate satisfaction, Penske said. ``You've got to be sure sponsors and their guests are happy,'' he said. NASCAR president Bill France Bill France can refer to one of two persons, father and son. Both are associated with NASCAR and are sometimes confused with each other.
``This is a state-of-the-art facility,'' France said. ``When it comes to customer service, I think they are going to be setting new standards for all race tracks in the series.'' Unlike Ontario, California Ontario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 170,373. It is the home of LA/Ontario International Airport and the huge Ontario Mills shopping mall (the largest in Southern California and one Speedway will open its gates free of debt, the Penskes say. Much of the start-up cost was financed by a stock sale that raised about $80 million. Also unlike Ontario, the California Speedway master plan has been conservative, the Penskes say. The track opens with just 71,000 grandstand seats. Expansion to 100,000 is planned by 1999 with an ultimate goal of 250,000, if attendance warrants. The Penskes will also consider adding events in coming years. But don't look for swap meets or farmers' markets  It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. to move in.
Events will be limited to major races like this year's Winston Cup on Sunday, Sept. 28's CART Marlboro 500 Indy car race, and NASCAR Truck Series and Busch Series The NASCAR Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCAR's "minor league" circuit (often compared to Triple-A baseball), and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's "big league" circuit, the Nextel Cup. races Oct. 18 and 19. ``We want to have the big-event concept here,'' said Roger Penske. Big events that draw big crowds and generate big money. Can they do it? They'll start finding out this week. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) The California Speedway, with 71,000 grandstand seats, is sold out and ready for its first NASCAR race on Saturday. (2) Members of the Goodyear racing teams unload wheels on Tuesday in preparation for Friday's qualifying. Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion