By Don Ward
Editor

SPARTA, Ky. (June 2012) – Kentucky Speedway fans will be treated to a whole new experience this year when they arrive at the track to see their favorite NASCAR stars. The problems encountered last year during the debut of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race have been resolved, track officials say.

Last year, traffic backed up for miles on I-71 because the roads around the track were clogged with vehicles that had no place to park. There weren’t enough spaces available. It’s estimated that as many as 14,000 fans didn’t get to see all or part of the race. Track officials vowed that would never happen again.
After undergoing a year-long, $11 million upgrade, the track this year features a new parking lot addition, a pedestrian tunnel and additional traffic lanes exiting I-71 and heading up Hwy. 35 to the track entrances.
Speedway Motorsports Inc. on Aug. 30 announced the acquisition of a 143-acre parcel of land that has since been transformed into a paved parking area just east of Hwy. 35 and directly across from the Speedway Gift Shop. A new pedestrian tunnel under Hwy. 35 will allow people to park and walk over to the track from the new parking area. The Speedway also hired professional parking and engineering services to best manage automotive and pedestrian traffic flows during venue event days.

Because of the actions taken by the Speedway, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet pledged to improve surrounding highways to allow faster access to expanded parking areas.
“We learned meaningful lessons during our inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekend and we committed that the traffic congestion that occurred on race day would not happen again. It was important for us to act quickly, and I am thrilled to report this solution, which was formed in only seven short weeks. I compliment and thank SMI Chairman and CEO Bruton Smith, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and KYTC Secretary Mike Hancock for working collaboratively on this plan,” Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger said.  
The expansive parcel located east of the 107,000 capacity facility and state Hwy. 35 is expected to increase available event parking by 35 percent when the gates open in late June for the three-day race weekend. This year’s first event is set for June 28-30 with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the prestigious NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Truck Series and Nationwide Series return for two nights of racing on Sept. 21-22.
In addition, track officials have taken measures to further improve parking operation by reinforcing all areas with gravel and painting guidelines to help maximize available space.
Veteran’s Security and Patrol Co., which has extensive experience managing parking during events at prominent motorsports venues such as Daytona International Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Watkins Glen International, began servicing the speedway last October. Kentucky Speedway will additionally retain the services of a traffic engineering company that will employ sophisticated modeling techniques to assimilate the new improvements with existing infrastructure to create the best possible traffic management plan.
SMI has invested an estimated $7.5 million in its service and parking improvements.

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Supplee The recent new additions to the Kentucky Speedway include a 143-acre paved parking lot east of Hwy. 35 and a pedestrian tunnel (right) under the highway allowing fans safe access to the track from their cars.

“Kentucky Speedway is a premier destination for the country’s best racing, and it’s clear that tens of thousands of people want to be right here to experience those events. The NASCAR race weekend last July was a huge success, but it did experience traffic problems, caused largely by inadequate parking,” said Gov. Beshear. “To assure visitors have an even better experience this year, we’ve worked hand in hand with SMI to plan improvements that will benefit fans on race day and Gallatin County residents year-round.”
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet complemented the SMI commitments by approving several enhancements to existing infrastructure that will assist in moving traffic more quickly during future race events.
Enhancements will:
• Improve the I-71 Exit 57 southbound ramp shoulder to allow three lanes of traffic to exit to KY 35 and directly access staggered speedway entrances during event days;
• Improve nearly one mile of KY 35 from the I-71 interchange. Approximately 0.6 of a mile of KY 35 will be widened to five lanes with two full width shoulders to better service two primary speedway access roads and improve daily traffic flow to Warsaw;
• Construct a tunnel beneath state KY 35 to safely and efficiently route pedestrian traffic to shuttles that transport fans to speedway gates.
The Cabinet supported the $3.6 million project with its contingency fund and took measures to make sure all work would be complete before summer 2012.
Kentucky Speedway officials showed off the new upgrades during a Ford Fan Day Open House in late April. Fans and media were invited to tour the site and take photos on April 28.
“It’s all come to fruition and you can see it,” Simendinger said. “I think fans are going to be thrilled when they come out and see it,” said Simendinger. “We’re just following through with what we said we were going to do.”
Simendinger said the first thing most fans have said after seeing the changes is, “Wow!”
“I think the size of it impresses people. It’s so visual,” he said. “When they see how much we’ve done, I think they probably start doing a few dollar signs in their head and say, “Wow. These guys are serious about getting this thing right.”
After the 2011 “Quaker State 400,” spectators used social media to let track officials know what they thought the traffic and parking issues. Now the track is responding in kind to communicate information about the changes that have been made.
“We’re letting them know — these are the things that we are doing. This is the progress we’re making,” said Simendinger. “It helps on a going forward basis.”
Another thing the track has done is hire a firm to conduct computerized models of race day traffic scenarios. The simulations have been run eight or nine times.
“I know we’re going to be better,” Simendinger said. “When you know that you’re going to do better, you’re anxious, you want it to come and you want to provide that to everybody else.”

• The Kentucky Speedway will conduct a joint communications initiative with Kentucky State Police to provide fans frequent traffic updates through the speedway’s Facebook page (Kentucky Speedway), @KySpeedway Twitter feed and local 1620 AM information radio channel.