The Kentucky state legislature is ready to help offset some of the cost, if Smith can finally end the track's decade-long pursuit of a date on the crowded Cup calendar.
Lawmakers are working on an amendment to the Kentucky Tourism Development Act that would allow SMI to recoup 25 percent of the expansion costs over a 20-year period through sales tax revenue.
The proposal comes with a caveat: no Cup race, no tax break.
It's a deal Smith can live with, mainly because he's planning on having a Cup date at the 1.5-mile tri-oval located halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati in 2010.
Smith said it's "extremely" likely the track, which SMI purchased last fall, would have a Cup race next year. Landing a date could produce up to $200 million in economic impact in the area.
Just how that gets done is uncertain. NASCAR was unwilling to grant a Cup date to the previous owners, who became so frustrated they filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp., with SMI being named as a coconspirator.
The case was dismissed last year, though the lawsuit is currently on appeal. Until the case is resolved, there is no chance NASCAR would award a Cup race to the track.
"As we have said consistently there will be no consideration for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series date at Kentucky Speedway until the pending lawsuit against NASCAR, ISC and SMI is resolved," said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston.
Former track owner Jerry Carroll, now a consultant with the track, said there are no plans to abandon the lawsuit.
There are other avenues. Smith could either move a date from another SMI track or purchase another Cup track and then move its date to Kentucky. He didn't rule out either option.
"Maybe and maybe," Smith said. "I always keep my eye on the ball because that's important. If something is available then I need to be there."
SMI owns several other NASCAR Cup tracks, including circuits in Las Vegas, Atlanta and Charlotte. He's spent lavishly to upgrade the facilities there and turned them into cash cows. He'd like to do the same at Kentucky, which already hosts NASCAR Trucks and Nationwide Series races as well as an IRL event.
Smith said the plans are to create space on the infield for motorhomes, triple the number of restrooms and alleviate some of the parking problems that have plagued the track since it opened in 2000.
To get a Cup date Smith said the track would have to add at least 55,000 seats to bring capacity to around 120,000.
Doing so will cost money, which is where the state comes in. The proposed amendment would create a provision for "Legacy Expansion Projects" designed to allow major projects that are committed to substantial expansions to recover incentives.
The proposal states the project must cost at least $30 million, attract 65,000 or more spectators and be broadcast nationally. While the amendment is geared toward getting a Cup date, it also opens the door for other events down the road said Gov. Steve Beshear.
"We think that with this step that we can ... provide the mechanism and the vehicle to where Mr. Smith and his company will make a major investment in Kentucky Speedway and that as a result of that investment bring a top-notch race series to that speedway," Beshear said.
The amendment also extends the amount of time a business is allowed to recover 25 percent of its investment from 10 years to 20.
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