Wednesday, February 03, 1999
Auto racing meeting becomes lovefest
NASCAR star Waltrip brings out the fans
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WARSAW, Ky. — What started out Tuesday as a town meeting concerning the new Kentucky Speedway in Sparta turned into a “Welcome To Gallatin County” party for stock-car racing star Darrell Waltrip.
Mr. Waltrip, a track consultant for Kentucky Speedway — under construction on 900-odd acres at Interstate 71 and Ky. 33 — joined track developer Jerry Carroll to meet county residents and discuss job possibilities and other particulars about the new superspeedway.
From the moment the stock car racing legend entered the gym at the Gallatin Middle School to cheers from about 400 people, the evening quickly developed into fun and games and autographs.
Mr. Waltrip, a native of Owensboro, knew exactly the right buttons to push as he told the crowd about growing up in western Kentucky.
“Like just about every young boy in Kentucky, I dreamed of playing basketball for the University of Kentucky,” he said. “But cars and racing got in the way. I don't know if that was good or bad.”
The combination was unbeatable: the Kentucky Wildcats and NASCAR — for nonfans of auto racing, that's the National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing.
Mr. Waltrip, who admits to being a NASCAR cheerleader, emphasized what a major speedway and major-league racing would do for the community.
“When you have 100,000 or 150,000 people here for a weekend of racing, imagine how much money they are going to spend,” he said. “This is a tremendous opportunity for the community. Some people have said they're concerned about strangers coming in here.
“I can tell you that race fans are just people, just like you.”
At the urging of Mr. Carroll, Mr. Waltrip, who said he played basketball for Daviess County High School, engaged in a free-throw-shooting contest with a member of the Gallatin County High School team. It was judged a draw.
Mr. Carroll answered questions about the jobs to be created by the speedway, al most all part time and mostly in concessions, parking, security and maintenance.
He said the track will probably employ 30 or 40 people year-round, but will need upward of 1,500 temporary workers on race weekends. He said he expects much of that help to come from Gallatin County and neighboring regions of Northern Kentucky.
“It was a great feeling, because I had people asking about when jobs would be available and then telling me how happy they were that the speedway was being built,” said Mr. Carroll, who recently finalized a deal to sell Turfway Park in Florence to Keeneland Race Track and two other buyers.
The diversity of age in the crowd typified that of a NASCAR race, where everyone from toddlers to seniors fill the stands.
Charlie Edwards, 66, drove from his home in Greendale, Ind., near Indianapolis, to hear what Mr. Waltrip and Mr. Carroll had to say.
“I've been a race fan since the 1950s,” he said. “I like all kinds of racing, not just the Indy 500. I think this will be a great place to watch a race.”
M.J. Haddix was on cloud nine as Mr. Waltrip autographed a hat and talked to the 11-year-old racing fan about opportunities to volunteer at the speedway when it opens in 2000.
“I watch NASCAR races on TV,” the Gallatin Elementary stu dent said. “We (he and his parents) just got back from Daytona (Fla.) Speedway. We were watching practice for the Daytona 500.”
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