Snohomish County out of the race for a NASCAR track

By Emily Heffter
Times Snohomish County bureau

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Since September, Snohomish County has been negotiating with ISC to bring a NASCAR racetrack to 850 acres of farmland between Marysville and Arlington. The corporation initially offered to invest $50 million in the $300 million project and asked the state Legislature to come up with a financing package to pay for the rest, plus about $75 million in needed transportation improvements.

The project never even got to legislators.

"They came in at $50 million, that was too low and we couldn't get above that," Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon said this afternoon.

In addition, he said he asked ISC for a guarantee the track could attract a coveted Nextel Cup race, and they wouldn't give him one.

As NASCAR has grown in popularity, other states have offered track developers tax breaks and other financing packages to lure speedways. Loyal NASCAR fans will travel long distances to see a race and stay longer than the event lasts, proponents say. For some communities, the economic benefits have been immense.

Proponents of a NASCAR track said the facility would be an economic boon for the county. A study early this year indicated the track would bring between $87.3 million and $121.8 million in new spending and tax revenue, and create more than 1,300 new jobs.

But proponents feared the track would create traffic nightmares on race weekends and possible damage the environment.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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