MARYSVILLE, Wash. – With the presidential seal of approval and sales of $3 billion a year, NASCAR's proposal to build a new track in the Pacific Northwest has fans revving their engines.
"The feeling that you get, just seeing the people there and the excitement — it's like a World Series (search) or a Super Bowl (search) phenomenon going on, it's so exciting," said NASCAR (search) fan Debbie Emge.
The proposed site is on Washington farmland in Snohomish County, near Seattle. But supporters want taxpayers to put up more than $200 million to pay for the 75,000-seat stadium and track.
"If we're going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on something, there's a lot of more important things to do than build a playground in Snohomish County," said Ernie Fosse, who opposes the track.
The International Speedway Corporation (search) has a track record of trying to get the best public financing package it can before building in a state. And no two deals are identical. They use the promise of jobs, spin-off revenue and growing NASCAR prestige as their bargaining chips.
Although one study predicts the raceway would generate more than $100 million a year, official opinions are mixed. And in Washington's current fiscal climate, the project has a long way to go before planners get the checkered flag.
Click in the box near the top of the story to watch a report by FOX News' Dan Springer.
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