ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Speedway Motorsports Chairman Bruton Smith announced Wednesday plans to help build a 1.5-mile, $42 million, D-shaped speedway in the Quad Cities area of northwest Illinois.
Smith and local developer John McChurch, a primary partner in the project, said the Quad Cities International Raceway Park will be built on farmland near Interstate 88 in Joslin, Ill., (about 160 miles west of Chicago) and initially will have 70,000 seats.
Smith said he and his company will help design and construct the speedway, which will include a two-mile road course. It may or may not be shaped like his Charlotte and Texas tracks, he said. Speedway Motorsports also will have the option to buy 40 percent of the Quad Cities stock.
``We do offer consulting services, but what we're doing here is more than a consulting service,'' Smith said Wednesday in a teleconference. ``We want to see this all the way through and see a superspeedway there that does not take a back seat to anyone.
Said McChurch, ``Bruton Smith did not come to us with an ice cream cone in his hand. We sought him out. I feel like we've got married real good and we're going to stay together. Bruton is more of a partner than a consultant.''
But Smith was noncommittal on whether Speedway Motorsports will actually exercise its option to purchase part of the track.
McChurch said he is hoping to have seven races in each of its first two years featuring the NASCAR Busch Grand National and truck series, the Indy Racing League (IRL), the American Speed Association (ASA), the American Motorcycle Association (AMA), the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA).
McChurch said he already has the financing for construction of the track and Smith said if ground is broken in the next few weeks, as planned, the facility should be finished in 15 months.
As for a Winston Cup date, ``we will be working all sides of the street to bring this about,'' Smith said. ``I think in the future, down the road, maybe we'll see some changes by the time this speedway is completed that will allow that to happen.''
GIBBS MAKES THE MOVE: Joe Gibbs says his switch from Chevrolet to Pontiac in the NASCAR Winston Cup series, which was formally announced Wednesday evening, was a natural move because of his current affiliation with the manufacturer.
``My drag racing teams are with Pontiac,'' he said. ``We think by putting everything under one roof for us, it makes for a neat program. We built a new Pontiac Grand Prix at GM's request, tested it, and [driver] Bobby [Labonte] was real excited about it.''
Said Labonte: ``After we tested the Pontiac Grand Prix, we were convinced that it's a good race car, and we'll be able to change our current cars over without making too much of an extreme effort.''
Calling himself a ``GM guy all the way,'' Gibbs said, ``When this thing came up and we started discussing it, I think everybody at GM thought it would be a good deal for us and a good deal for Pontiac.
``We thought the new Pontiac was very comparable to the Chevrolet. Bobby loved driving the Grand Prix, and as a matter of fact in our very first test at Pocono, we had a very successful test, and he really liked the car.''
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Team owner Joe Gibbs (left) and driver Bobby Labonteby CNBpose by a new Pontiac Grand Prix the team will use in 1997 at the
team's shop near Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday.