Biffle wants supporters in Washington to speak

If driver Greg Biffle is right and supporters of a Seattle-area track in Washington state need to speak up louder than opponents of the proposal, then those supporters will have to be more than loud. They might have to get downright mean to match the rhetoric thrown about recently by some of Washington state's most influential lawmakers.

Biffle made the trip to the area on Feb. 22 along with NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip, two of the sport's greatest drivers who have evolved since their driving days into two of its greatest ambassadors.

Larry Seaquist

Seaquist opposes ISC deal, not sport

Washington state Rep. Larry Seaquist was a guest on Sirius NASCAR radio to explain his recent comments regarding the building of a racetrack in his state.

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The most pointed, derogatory comment made by a Washington legislator was attributed to State House representative Larry Seaquist, a Democrat who made it clear that he does not want NASCAR and its fans in his beloved home state.

"These people are not the kind of people you would want living next to you," he told a Fox television news station there. "They'd be the ones with the junky cars in their front yard and would try to slip around the law."

Frank Chopp, another Democrat who is the powerful State House Speaker, was asked about Petty's visit and added: "You mean the guy who got picked up for DUI? He's not a member of the House last time I checked."

Biffle, a native of Vancouver, Wash., said he heard those comments and initially could do little more than shake his head in disbelief at the level of ignorance that he believes they portray.

"They're just uneducated about NASCAR," Biffle said. "They're not uneducated folks, but a lot of them are uneducated about NASCAR."

He said he particularly found Chopp's inaccurate reference to Petty offensive.

"The guy [meaning Petty] won't even let his cars run in the Budweiser Shootout," Biffle said. "The guy won't even let [alcohol-related sponsors] put a decal on his car. So can you believe that? I was thoroughly embarrassed. If that gives you any indication, well, you know."

Biffle said he still thinks that enough support can be drummed up to make the proposed $368 million racetrack become a reality. International Speedway Corporation's current proposal calls for Washington taxpayers to ante up for about half the facility's cost, with ISC contributing roughly $180 million. Cost overruns also would be paid by ISC under this proposal. The state's share would be paid through bonds, which ISC contends would be more than covered by sales taxes paid by visiting out-of-state fans.

The biggest hurdle NASCAR faces is changing the perception of the sport being perpetuated by opponents such as Seaquist and Chopp, according to Biffle. He said that because they have been so vocal in denouncing the proposal, they have thus far drowned out the racetrack's supporters.

"I feel like we made a little bit of progress," Biffle said of the recent goodwill mission he participated in. "And the biggest progress I think we made, is we learned about what it's going to take to make it happen. And what I feel it's going to take to make it happen is, and it's kind of simple and you don't really put your thought into it at first, but everybody who is against the racetrack speaks out against it. The people who are for it aren't saying much. That has to change.

"When you see a zoning thing dug in the ground by your house, and you're OK with that zoning thing, you just don't say anything, right? You're like, 'OK, that'll be all right. Yeah, I'm OK with that.' Whereas the people who are against that new zoning law are all lined up, picketing and screaming, 'Hey, we don't like it! It sucks. It's terrible.'

Greg Biffle Credit: Autostock

Biffle, Petty meet with lawmakers

Greg Biffle, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip went to Washington state to discuss with lawmakers the proposed building of a $368 million racetrack.

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"All the people who are in support of the racetrack are excited about it, but they're not saying anything. They're just coming up to us and saying, 'Hey, when's it gonna happen? Are we making progress?' Meanwhile, all the people who are against it are voicing their opinions. So all of the legislature and a lot of the people are hearing a lot of the negative, and not all of the positive."

Or much of any of it. Biffle said he already has embarked on a personal one-man campaign to help change that.

"So I've talked to a lot of people in the Northwest that I know, or anyone that I come in contact with or see that has asked me about the racetrack. And I say, 'Call 'em on the phone. Write them a letter. Tell them how excited you are, how you can't wait ... ask what you can do to support it,' " Biffle said. "These people don't understand. There are a hundred thousand people who want this racetrack, and not just 75 who don't want it.

"You don't ever think about that. I never even really considered it, until I went out there and saw what was sort of going on."

Biffle likened it to the recent furor some created regarding other issues in NASCAR.

"One lawmaker said, 'Well, we don't hear a bunch of people making a racket saying, 'We want this.' And I'm like, 'OK, that makes sense.' So only the people who are against it are the people who yell and kick and scream and cry. The people who are for it just don't say anything," Biffle said.

"It's just like rules changes in NASCAR or the Car of Tomorrow. All the guys who are alright with the Car of Tomorrow just don't say anything. But the guys who are upset about it make the most noise. It's the same deal with this. So we need to get behind the people of the Northwest. And I think it would even do good to hear from people in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, anywhere ... Kansas City. We need to hear them say, 'Man, we want to come to Washington. We want to vacation there. We want to come to Seattle and see a race and then go to the Columbia River Gorge or whatever. We want to come out there and watch the race, tow our motor home or our trailer, and vacation out there for a week.' That's what we need. They think the numbers will work [to support the racetrack after it is built], but we need a big push of support."

The key, Biffle added, is that a racetrack represents an economic engine that will bring streams of revenue into the state that otherwise would not exist.

"They looked at the business model and understand it, I think. This will make money," Biffle said. "I tried to explain to them that there will be a tremendous amount of people from other parts of the country that are going to come here. You build a stadium for your baseball team, who comes to your stadium? All these local people and maybe some fans from the opposing team will come. But this, people will come from all over the United States for this. Not just your state.

"I think they get it. I think they understand it. We're getting closer. We just need more support."