Brian France insists the Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, KY is not a viable place for a Sprint Cup race. A track that draws sellout crowds of over 70,000 for a second tier event isn’t viable? The stands would be full at Kentucky for Cup, and it would look great on TV to have a packed house at a cookie cutter oval for once in the modern era of racing and high gas prices.

A Sprint Cup race in Kentucky would bring an estimated 300 million dollars to a state with no big time professional sports teams. Attention given to a race would be overwhelming with cities like Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington and Indianapolis within easy driving distance.

Louisville is top ten on the list of cities with big ratings on NASCAR Sundays, but the college sports town isn’t looked at an auto racing hotbed. Little do the local anti-NASCAR politicians know how much the NASCAR Cup series can bring to the state, and that’s even when compared to the two minute sprint on the first Saturday in May.

Ohio can’t be forgotten. The home of the ARCA/ReMax series can be found in Toledo, but there’s no NASCAR racing to speak of in the Buckeye State. Once again, Kentucky Speedway would get a huge draw from the north.

NASCAR and Brian France are truly in a no lose situation when talking about a Cup race at Sparta. France could tout the race as a return to NASCAR’s roots, or another way to serve some loyal fans that don’t get a race outside of the bore at the Brickyard each year. After all, it has been out rightly said by France that this year is all about getting back to the basics and regaining lost fans.

If NASCAR is truly campaigning for some of the alienated fans back, a race in Kentucky should satisfy quite a few. Yes, the track is a cookie cutter. Yes, it’s not quite a two grooved cookie cutter. But to say the racing is worse than what is seen at Pocono twice a year for 500 miles apiece would be wrong.

Pocono and Dover – the lonely two tracks not yet sucked up by ISC and SMI, with the exception of Indianapolis, are both targets for SMI owner Bruton Smith. According to the owners, Pocono isn’t for sale. After the snoozer last week in Dover, fans and shareholders alike are calling for the sale of that track and likely forfeiture of one race date. SMI owner Smith could also take a date from New Hampshire, fulfilling his hopes of seeing a second race in Vegas and one in Kentucky for 2009.

France won’t be able to stop Smith from moving dates at SMI, but it shouldn’t be an issue. Kentucky Speedway deserves a date and has deserved one for a long time. The facilities are top notch, the racing is decent, and an enthusiastic bunch of people show up to watch the races.