Kansas Speedway, the 1.5-mile oval superspeedway in front of you, opened in 2001 and became the anchor of a massive sports and entertainment complex on the western edge of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The speedway seats approximately 75,000 fans and hosts NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar races that draw visitors from across the Midwest. But Kansas Speedway's story is as much about economic development strategy as it is about motorsport.
The speedway was the centerpiece of a plan to redevelop a former industrial corridor in Wyandotte County, Kansas — one of the most economically distressed counties in the region. The complex that grew up around it includes a casino, an outlet mall, a minor league baseball stadium, and numerous hotels and restaurants, representing billions of dollars in private investment that Wyandotte County used tax increment financing and other incentives to attract. Whether that strategy delivered the promised economic benefits to existing county residents is a question economists and policy analysts debate vigorously.
What is undeniable is that Kansas Speedway transformed the physical landscape of this corner of the metro area and put Kansas City on the NASCAR calendar. On race weekends, the traffic alone testifies to its regional significance.