FORT MITCHELL — There was Winston Cup in the air Monday at the Kentucky Speedway offices here, with hints galore that the speedway will get the word from NASCAR this summer that it has won a 2003 Winston Cup date.

        Reigning ARCA stock car champion Frank Kimmel, who with Indy Racing League champ Sam Hornish Jr., spent some time with fans who were buying tickets at the office Monday, said rumors are rampant about the speedway's chances for a 2003 Winston Cup date.

        “You hear things everywhere,” Mr. Kimmel said.

        “I've heard a lot of positive talk about Kentucky Speedway and the chances of a Winston Cup event,” he added.

        Speedway executive vice president and general manager Mark Cassis said he and track owner Jerry Carroll have always pointed to 2003 as the target year for a Winston Cup event at the 1.5-mile tri-oval off Interstate 71 in Sparta.

        “We can only do our best and hope things go our way,” Mr. Cassis said. “This (2002) is a critical season for us. We must prove that we can do it again, that we can draw 71,000 for the Busch race and do the same things we did last year and in 2000. That's the proof that we're ready for Winston Cup.”

        Race fans lined up as early as 8 a.m. Monday to purchase single event tickets, and Mr. Cassis said the speedway's Web site - www.kentuckyspeedway.com - and telephone order lines - 1-888-652-RACE - were over capacity the entire day.

        Jenny Schwarberg of Alexandria was there to purchase four tickets for the NASCAR Busch Series Kentucky 300 race on July 13, despite the cold temperatures and snow on the ground.

        “I'm off and my husband (Rob) is working, so I came to buy the tickets,” she explained. “Weather doesn't matter to him. He thinks about auto racing all year. He's counting the days right now until the season starts at Daytona in February.”

        Mr. Cassis, looking to the 2002 season, said speedway officials are trying to present more packages for the fans, “more things for the family to do.”

        There will be an outdoor show at the speedway June 6-9 that will include boating, RVs, hunting and fishing and other outdoor attractions.

        Mr. Carroll, who will travel to Los Angeles this weekend for the NASCAR Busch awards banquet at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, said all the speedway can do “is keep doing our best, proving that we put on great races, and hope it's recognized by (network) television, sponsors and NASCAR.”

        “It will be interesting to see what the NASCAR people have to say to us this weekend,” he said. “I don't really expect to hear anything regarding Winston Cup at the banquet, but we hope to have conversations with NASCAR officials soon to talk about the future.”

        NASCAR officials at the sanctioning body's headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., have consistently declined to discuss possible changes in Winston Cup race dates or locations prior to release of the schedule for the following year.

        If Kentucky Speedway were awarded a Winston Cup date for 2003, work would begin at the end of this season to double the current 70,000 seating capacity by adding seats on the side of the track opposite the present grandstand, nearly encircling the track with seats.

        The speedway once again has four race weekends scheduled for 2002, including the ARCA RE/MAX WLWT Channel 5 155 race May 11; the Busch race June 15; the NASCAR Truck Series Kroger 225 race July 13; and the IRL Belterra Casino 300 race Aug. 11.

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