Lighting up Kansas?

[General Lee 01]

From Jayski's:

 

Lights at Kansas for 2003? For the second straight year, more than 75,000 fans endured 90-degree-plus temperatures and filled Kansas Speedway for both Saturday's CTS and Sunday's IRL races. And in September, about 100,000 fans, including those who watch from motor-home parking on the infield and motor-home terrace, will attend the Sept. 28-29 BGN and Winston Cup races. So speedway president Jeff Boerger plans to petition the board of directors of International Speedway Corp., parent company of the speedway, and seek approval to expand the year-old facility by 5,000 to 8,000 seats and to install lights for night racing. The board will meet in September at ISC headquarters in Daytona Beach, FL. The speedway was built with the eventual plan to double in size by completing grandstands in sections until they surround the 1.5-mile tri-oval. The infrastructure for electricity and water lines were installed when the $260 million facility was built, making expansion easier and more economical. The light poles are already in place with plates in which lights can be affixed. The initial expansion would add seats to the lower grandstands in turn one, the 3,000 people on the waiting list for season tickets would get the first opportunity for the new seats. By adding lights, which would cost in excess of $2 million, Kansas Speedway could not only attract a second Winston Cup or IRL date, it could bid for NASCAR's all-star race, The Winston, which NASCAR is considering rotating much like other sports rotate their all-star games. If Kansas Speedway had lights, Boerger said either or both the July Craftsman Trucks or IRL races could be held at night, depending on the desire of NASCAR and the Indy Racing League.(