A group lead by Colorado Springs developer Bill Schuck announced plans Wednesday to build a new race track in northeast Aurora [CO]. The $200 million race track would feature a 1-mile oval speedway, a 4-mile road course and a karting facility. It would seat between 65,000 and 100,000 fans on 1,500 acres on the TransPort property east of Peña Boulevard. The private venture is expected to break ground in 2010 and and will host numerous racing events, such as stock car, open wheel, midget and road racing. The developers said Wednesday the decision to move forward with plans for the track was influenced by the recent passage of Senate Bill 173, the Colorado Tourism Act, which could provide the group access up to $50 million in state sales tax revenue pay off construction bonds over a 30 year period. The bill has not yet been signed by Gov. Bill Ritter. TransPort also said it will ask Ritter and other government officials to help apply for federal discretionary stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Officials for the Florida-based International Speedway Corp. have said for more than two years that they would like to build a track in the metro area, but said any sort of venture would have to be a public-private partnership.(Denver Post)(5-28-2009)
