International Speedway Corp., rebuffed last year in an effort to build a NASCAR track near Marysville, has decided the proposed project is worth another go-round in Kitsap County.

In an effort to bring the fast-growing sport of stock-car racing to an untapped area of the country, ISC officials said yesterday they hope to construct an 80,000-seat racetrack near the Kitsap-Mason County line south of Bremerton National Airport.

"If everything works out just as it can," ISC spokesman Stann Tate said, "we plan on being on track and dropping the green flag in the summer of 2010."

Tate said the selection of the site "is just a first step right now," something echoed by officials in Kitsap County.

"It's just an announcement of interest," Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman said. "I don't think by any stretch of the imagination this is a done deal."

Lisa Holmer, spokeswoman for the Kitsap County Commission, said, "It's got to go through the same permitting process as any other project. At any time it may come against a roadblock they may not be able to cross.

"It's a pretty big project for the area."

ISC isn't specific about the funding plan, but Tate said ISC, a publicly traded company that develops tracks, would contribute more than the $50 million that was earmarked for the Marysville site, leaving roughly $250 million to be government-financed.

The track would be a wholly owned subsidiary of ISC.

"There will not be any new taxes," Tate said.

State officials say ISC will hire economists to forecast how much race fans would spend in King, Pierce and Kitsap counties. ISC will then request that share of the state's sales tax to pay back construction bonds, an approach called tax-increment financing, currently constitutional only in limited forms in the state.

"It will be dueling economists for a while," said Marty Brown, legislative director for Gov. Christine Gregoire. "It's not impossible. The devil is in the details."

Must convince locals

Brown said ISC representatives met last week with state officials, but didn't provide significant details about their plan.

"The one thing they did say is, they understood that you don't get as good a deal [with the state] as the last guy," Brown said, referring to the tax support of Safeco and Qwest fields in Seattle in the past decade.

Tate said the next step for ISC is to work with civic and government officials to discuss issues like road improvements and environmental impact, construction costs and public financing.

ISC has been looking to expand to the Northwest, studying not only the Kitsap and Marysville sites, but a couple in Oregon and previously one near Yelm in Thurston County.

The Marysville site would have required some $70 million in state-funded transportation improvements, and there were also issues such as drainage and rerouting of a salmon-carrying stream.

"Those issues we had are unique to Marysville and are not at all unique to the Kitsap site," Tate said.

One desirable aspect for ISC is that the targeted 950-acre parcel — a tree farm — is owned by a sole party, as opposed to about 30 landowners on the Marysville site. Tate says ISC has secured an option on the land.

"In Marysville, I think ISC got a lesson about locking up the land before they go public," said David Porter, executive director of the Kitsap County Economic Development Council. "The price of land escalated on a daily basis; 'Here comes a sugar daddy from Florida.' Here, they're dealing with one landlord."

Nextel Cup race

Tate said that on the primary race weekend each year, the track could be used for a Nextel Cup main event, a Busch series race and a Craftsman truck series race. Some tracks that host Nextel Cup events also attract open-wheel, Indy cars for major races.

Tate also said regional races would be possible, as well as "all sorts of community events" unrelated to racing, such as car shows and walk-a-thons.

"We're going to make this track available to the community," he said.

As for the location, which could be difficult for Seattle-area fans to reach except by ferry, Tate said, "The ferries are very unique. They're going to offer a lot for race fans around the country. To be able to ride a Washington state ferry is to do something you haven't done before."

Noting the track or parking lot would have views of Mount Rainier and the Olympic Mountains, Tate said, "It's probably going to be one of the more beautiful tracks in the country. We're going to leave a lot of what's indigenous to the area."

The proposal seems to have a supporter in state Sen. Tim Sheldon, a Democrat from Kitsap County.

"I was an opponent of the Mariners and Seahawks [stadium proposals]," he said. "I think this has a real different twist. There's no new taxes."

Still, noted Bozeman, Bremerton's mayor, it's a contentious time for those aiming for state tax money.

"Whether there's a will to do that, I don't know," he said. "It all comes out of citizens' pockets. There's only so much money."

Said Sheldon: "I give it a 50-50 chance in the Legislature. NASCAR is a Southern tradition. This is the sell — how well they sell themselves to the Legislature. It will come down to a personal lobbying effort."

Too many problems

The effort in Marysville went awry late last year when rising costs caused government officials to back away from the deal.

Mark Funk, spokesman for Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, said, "We had a generally pretty good experience with ISC. The problem was the cost of the proposed site escalated to about $300 million, and they weren't willing to go above $50 million. When that happened, frankly, it was a bad business deal for us."

Mary Swenson, chief administrative officer for the city of Marysville, said, "We're pleased it's going to be in Washington. When we left the project, both [Snohomish] county and [the] city of Marysville said we wished ISC well, we thought it had economic potential and it would be good for Washington state."

Meanwhile, local track operators greeted the news with mixed reactions. They like the prospect of increased racing interest in the state, but fear what it might do to their gates, especially if more NASCAR races are moved from Sunday to Saturday night.

"We have our concerns," said Mickey Beadle, general manager of Evergreen Speedway in Monroe. "They [NASCAR] have been going to [Saturday] night races, so it would be tough to compete against that. I hope the state will support the local tracks as well."

Steve Beitler, owner and general manager of Skagit Speedway in Burlington, said, "I think it's wonderful news for racing in the Pacific Northwest. But they haven't cleared the same hurdles as they had in [Marysville]. It still has to be approved by the county and state."

Beitler also sees the downside, acknowledging, "It's a double-edged sword."

Times staff reporter José Miguel Romero contributed to this article.