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Court rejects Ky. Speedway suit against NASCAR
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected claims by a Kentucky
race track that NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. violated
federal antitrust laws by keeping it off the premier racing
circuit.
The decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals ends, for now, Kentucky Speedway's legal efforts
to force NASCAR to bring a Sprint Cup race to the track in Sparta,
in northern Kentucky.
The panel said Kentucky Speedway failed to prove NASCAR and
International Speedway Corp., worked together with other tracks to
keep the Kentucky track from getting a Sprint Cup race.
NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said NASCAR is pleased the
court treated auto racing like other sports and acknowledged it's
right to choose where and when to hold events. Poston said the 2010
racing schedule is set. Kentucky Speedway is not included in the
Sprint Cup schedule.
"However, we are happy to discuss alternatives with the track
owners for 2011 and beyond as they relate to NASCAR's realignment
plans," Poston said.
Jerry Carroll, a member of the joint ownership group that
founded the track over a decade ago, seemed resigned to the ruling.
"We've carried it out," he said. "We still think we're right
but the judges have talked and made their decision."
Carroll said the former owners will meet next week to review
their legal options but hinted he's anxious for the saga to end.
"This is a mental load and a load that I've carried, a
stepchild kind of deal that I'm not used to," he said. "I think I'm
ready to wrap it up and let the chips fall."
Carroll said he remains optimistic the track will finally
land a coveted Cup date in 2011.
"Everybody's main goal is we fulfill our dream and bring a
Cup race to the state of Kentucky," he said.
Kentucky Speedway sued NASCAR in 2005 after being rejected
multiple times for a top level race. The track, about halfway
between Louisville and Cincinnati, has drawn huge crowds to some of
its other races. The NASCAR Busch race, now called the NASCAR
Nationwide series, last year drew more than 70,000 people to the
1.5-mile tri-oval.
"We question (Kentucky Speedway's) allegation that NASCAR's
refusal to grant (Kentucky Speedway) a Sprint Cup race constitutes
an antitrust injury because there are many considerations relevant
to the quintessential business judgment of whether expanding the
Sprint Cup to northern Kentucky makes economic sense in developing
the NASCAR brand on a national basis," Judge Ronald Lee Gilman
wrote for the court.
Judges Jerome Farris and Deborah Cook joined Gilman's
opinion.
Kentucky Speedway alleged that NASCAR had conspired to leave
the Sparta track and others out of the Sprint Cup - formerly known
as the Nextel Cup - series despite their superior amenities. The
speedway had asked that ISC be ordered to sell some of the tracks
it owns that host Sprint Cup races and that the speedway be awarded
more than $200 million in damages.
ISC-owned tracks host 55 percent of all Sprint Cup races. The
rest are facilities owned by other companies, including Speedway
Motorsports Inc., the only company besides ISC that hosts more than
one Sprint Cup race.
Attorneys for NASCAR and ISC argued that the speedway had
insufficient evidence to prove NASCAR and ISC worked together with
other tracks to keep the Kentucky track from obtaining a race in
the Sprint Cup series. The appeals court found that Kentucky
Speedway faced a challenge of showing NASCAR and ISC could legally
conspire with one another given that the France family owns NASCAR
and a 65 percent share of ISC.
Kentucky Speedway has taken several steps to lure a Sprint
Cup race, including getting an interstate highway widened near the
track and adding a new exit. The track, with a capacity of just
over 66,000 fans, has said it's prepared to add 20,000 to 35,000
seats if it attracted a Sprint Cup race.
The track hosts a Craftsman Truck Series race and an IndyCar
Series event and has drawn positive reviews from drivers and fans.
