Let's hear your Kentucky Speedway traffic stories. Good or bad, I want you to e-mail your experiences to me at the address below.

        It won't make any difference to the folks at NASCAR, who seemingly have no plans to award Jerry Carroll a Winston Cup date. But as a public service, let's hear how things are moving in and out of the speedway.

        Everyone remembers the opening-night disaster of June 2000. Rain and mud and traffic backed up from here to forever, as 63,750 attended a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at the speedway. But we'll write that one off, for our purposes here.

        The speedway since has added more gravel and paved parking areas. A new I-71 interchange has opened 2 miles south of the track, and speedway officials say it has made traffic flow much better.

        But I wouldn't know. I never see much traffic, as we media types usually arrive at the track much earlier and leave much later than most.

        That's why I want to hear what you've seen. Is traffic indeed flowing better than ever? Or do you still get stuck? What about the parking? Is it better? Worse? The same?

        While we're at it, how about the lines to get into the track, and at the concession stands? How do those move? How does Kentucky compare to other major tracks in traffic, parking, etc.?

        Basic question: Are things better, worse, or about the same since June 2000?

        I'll try to publish a representative sampling of comments, hopefully as soon as next week. Yes, it's unscientific, but it's all we've got!

        ISC LOOKING: With NASCAR not looking Kentucky's way with Winston Cup, it apparently hasn't given up on New York and Colorado.

        International Speedway Corporation, controlled by NASCAR's founding Bill France family, remains “very focused on New York,” an ISC official told investors in a conference call last week.

        H. Lee Combs, senior vice president of corporate development for ISC, said officials still hope to build a track near New York City.

        Also, the Denver Post reported that ISC is looking to buy Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo., after twice failing to build a speedway near Denver.

        NASCAR insiders believe Kentucky could be in line for a Winston Cup race someday, but only if ISC buys the track. Kentucky Speedway's Jerry Carroll and general manager Mark Cassis said ISC has not approached them about a sale, despite occasional rumors in the motorsports media.

        UNSER WOES: Indy-car insiders barely blinked when Al Unser Jr. was arrested last week on domestic violence charges, with his girlfriend saying he hit her while drunk.

        The two-time Indy 500 winner (1992, '94) has been in a long decline. Unser went four years without a victory before winning again in spring 2000. Along the way, he got divorced, lost his ride with the prestigious Penske team in CART and went to IRL as a last resort.

        Now come stories of drug and alcohol abuse, with a former Unser employee telling the Albuquerque Journal he once supplied the driver with marijuana and cocaine. Peers such as Michael Andretti publicly lamented how Unser Jr. had let his career get away from him.

        But at age 40, “Little Al” apparently tried to get his act back together. Last winter, he lost 30 pounds and went through physical conditioning, something he reportedly had avoided for years.

        This year, Unser Jr. is having a relatively good season, ranking sixth in the IRL standings. But this is a guy who once dominated the CART series and seemed a threat to approach the record of four Indy 500 victories shared by his father, A.J. Foyt, and Rick Mears.

        Robin Miller, a former Indianapolis Star columnist who writes for ESPN.com, has known the Unser clan for decades. Miller's take on Al Jr.:

        “The freckle-faced kid who drove with such maturity and charmed everyone with his aw-shucks personality has become a lost soul of 40 whose past glories can't mask his current condition. Or the lines on his weathered face.”

       E-mail tgroeschen@enquirer.com

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