MI SPEEDWAY TO EXPAND ISC CHECKS OUT MEADOWLANDS

MI SPEEDWAY TO EXPAND; ISC CHECKS OUT MEADOWLANDS

Published March 2, 2000

           MI Speedway "will increase by" 10,810 seats in turn
     three this year and "revert to its traditional name," MI
     Int'l Speedway, beginning with a formal announcement and
     unveiling of a new logo in August, according to Angelique
     Chengelis of the DETROIT NEWS.  The addition will bring the
     venue's capacity to 136,000, "solidifying its position" as
     the largest sporting facility in the state.  MI Speedway
     President Gene Haskett said that the new seats "already have
     been sold" for its two NASCAR Winston Cup races, the June 11
     Kmart 400 and August 20 Pepsi 400.  The CART series will
     race there July 23 (DETROIT NEWS, 3/2).
          NOTES: In Daytona, Mark Schlueb writes that between
     Speedweeks races at Daytona Int'l Speedway, workers made
     nighttime repairs to new grandstand seats "after several
     fans complained that the bleachers swayed beneath their
     feet" (NEWS-JOURNAL, 3/2)....In Asbury Park, NJ, Amy Zurzola
     wrote that NJ Sports & Exposition Authority officials
     "confirmed they are currently talking with" Int'l Speedway
     Corp. (ISC) about building the first "top-flight" auto
     racetrack in the N.Y. area.  ISC is "now performing
     engineering studies to determine" whether the Meadowlands
     complex "is suitable for such a track."  The proposed track
     would have "perhaps upward of" 100,000 seats (A.P. PRESS,
     3/1)....CBS SportsLine's Jeff Owens wrote that NASCAR driver
     Mark Martin "used to hate" going to Las Vegas.  Martin:
     "Since they built a track there, I've found out that it's a
     real pretty place, it's got some good food and some cool
     sights to see and cool things to do even if you don't
     gamble, plus the race track is one of the best I've ever
     driven on" (CBS SportsLine, 3/1).