Sunday, August 12, 2001
Kentucky Speedway Notebook
Officials happy if 45,000 attend
By Tom Groeschen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SPARTA, Ky. — Kentucky Speedway expects more than 40,000 fans today for the Belterra Casino Indy 300, and track officials say they'll take it.
“There's going to be a lot of activity in the marketplace,” speedway general manager Mark Cassis said. “We still hope to get 45,000.”
Today, the speedway faces competition from a Reds home game, the Tennis Masters Series championship match and a CART race about three hours north at Mid-Ohio.
“Everything just happened to fall on that date,” Cassis said. “Hopefully it won't happen again next year. TV always has a big say in it.”
Last year's inaugural IRL event drew 61,214 to Kentucky, partially because of the novelty of a first-year Indy race. There were no other major sporting events in the area that weekend.
RACE FAVORITES: Besides polesitter Scott Sharp, here are other key drivers to watch in today's race:
• Eddie Cheever, the 1998 Indy 500 champion, who will start third;
• Cleveland resident Robbie Buhl, who starts fourth;
• Former IRL champion Greg Ray, who starts fifth.
• Buddy Lazier, last year's Kentucky 300 winner, will start 11th.
Season points leader Sam Hornish Jr. will start eighth. Two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. will start ninth.
Sarah Fisher, a crowd favorite whose hometown is Commercial Point, Ohio, (near Columbus), will start 20th. Fisher finished third at Kentucky last season but has struggled to find speed this weekend.
ALL-PRO RACE: Jeff Fultz, Sycamore High class of 1987, won Saturday's NASCAR Gatorade All-Pro race. It gave Fultz a sweep of both All-Pro events at Kentucky this summer.
“It means the world to me, winning here,” Fultz said. “I've got a lot of people sitting up there in the stands.”
Fans gave him a standing ovation as Fultz spun victory doughnuts on the track.
Fultz, 31, now lives in Mooresville, N.C., at the hub of most NASCAR Winston Cup race shops. Fultz works by day in the shop of Cup driver Robert Pressley, and usually races most weekends.
Fultz tried but failed to make the Coca-Cola 600 in May. He is seeking funds to make another Cup attempt somewhere, and also might try to make a Busch Series race or two.
Fultz is a star on the All-Pro circuit, a regional series which tours mostly in the Southeast. He has twice finished second in the All-Pro season points race, and stands third this year. Saturday's win was the seventh of his career.
TUBBY VISITS: UK basketball coach Tubby Smith is the grand marshal for today's IRL race. The day includes a pre-race concert by Blessid Union of Souls in the garage area, with a pit pass required.
FRIDAY RECAP: The short-track schedule did not conclude until about 1 a.m. Saturday morning, thanks to a rain delay. In the ARCA truck race, Middletown's Brett Oakley finished third. Other locals included Johnny Witham (sixth), Jeff Wichmann (11th) and Darren Jones (15th).
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Kentucky Speedway Notebook
