Talladega Superspeedway President Grant Lynch has been to Washington five times this year in search of a Northwest site for a new NASCAR speedway.

Tomorrow, in a sixth Northwest trip, he will head to Oregon.

The demise late last year of a plan to build a 75,000-seat NASCAR track in Snohomish County created an opportunity for other sites. Kitsap County is back in the running and now the Portland area is getting another look. Other Washington proposals in Yakima and Moses Lake have been ruled out this year because they were too far from Seattle.

The developer, Florida-based International Speedway Corp., or ISC, has made it clear that tax breaks and help covering the infrastructure costs of a track will help them choose their location. Giving Oregon consideration could force the two states' legislatures to compete for the track, though corporation officials say it's not their goal to pit them against each other.

Several communities say they want a track for the notoriety and economic benefits it could bring. A racetrack could generate between $87.3 million and $121.8 million in revenue every year, according to a study commissioned by track proponents in the Seattle area last year.

The Snohomish County deal fell through because ISC would commit only $50 million to the $250 million-plus project, expecting the public to pay the rest. The company's refusal to budge turned out to be a deal breaker.

If ISC selects a Kitsap County site near Bremerton, local officials there aren't likely to accept such a small ISC contribution, either, said Kitsap County Economic Development Council Director David Porter.

And Porter said he would anticipate problems if ISC wanted the county to own the track and lease it to the developer, as it requested Snohomish County do.

"Even a not-very-bright guy like me can figure out that's not a good deal," he said.

But even though Kitsap County is apparently the only site ISC is considering in Washington, company officials haven't been in touch with Porter since the Snohomish County proposal failed.

Lynch, who is heading up the search for ISC, confirmed that company officials have been back to Bremerton, but he said they're in no hurry to select a site.

The company's goal to run races in the Northwest by 2008 died with the Snohomish County deal. Now it will look for another site within 50 miles of Seattle or Portland and see whether something can be built by 2009, he said. "We're still very much interested in building a site in the Northwest," Lynch said.

Washington Lt. Gov. Brad Owen said ISC officials have been fairly scarce in Olympia this session. But he believes the corporation is serious.

"What I think is happening is they prefer to have a Washington site if they can put a tax package together," he said. "But if they decide they just can't do it, then Oregon comes on the table."

Lynch will visit two sites this week: an old Reynolds Aluminum plant in Troutdale, east of Portland, and another site south of Portland. Residents of Scappoose, a town northwest of Portland along the Columbia River, have launched a campaign for the track, as well.

It's clear that public officials and the developer learned a few things from Snohomish County's ordeal. Negotiations should be much quieter, and local officials said they wouldn't make public as many details as Snohomish County did before the deal was solidified.

Washington state Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, in Mason County, wouldn't even confirm whether ISC officials recently had visited the Kitsap County site in his district. "We've had conversations with them. I think it's been treated more as an economic-development opportunity with a client."

Emily Heffter: 425-783-0624 or eheffter@seattletimes.com