International Speedway

Baltimore-based developer The Cordish Co. is planning a $250 million mixed-use development across from the Daytona International Speedway, home of the Daytona 500, in a joint venture with a subsidiary of racing promoter International Speedway Corp., which owns the 71-acre site on Florida's northern Atlantic coast. The project, Daytona Live!, would shift from a lunch and retail destination during the day to a dining and entertainment district at night, with preliminary plans for 200,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, a 2,500-seat movie theater, housing, a 160-room hotel and headquarters offices for International Speedway Corp.

DOVER, Del. -- Rusty Wallace and "The Snake" chased history yesterday afternoon at Dover Downs International Speedway -- and passed it."The Snake" is Wallace's Miller Lite Ford, and the two of them raced faster around this one-mile concrete oval than anyone before.Faster than other Winston Cup cars and even faster than Bobby Unser drove his Indy car here 29 years ago."Wow, I knew I was fast," Wallace said. "But I didn't know I was that fast."Wallace claimed the pole for tomorrow's MBNA Platinum 400 with a run of 155.898 mph. That performance broke Bobby Labonte's track-qualifying record for stock cars (155.

Buoyed by a tight points chase and a tinge of controversy, the Indy Racing League is chugging toward the conclusion of its third season.That's three years longer than some detractors gave the series when its formation was announced by Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in March 1994.With the Speedway and the Indy 500 as its cornerstone, the IRL was founded with a noble agenda:Preserve the traditions of single-seat, open-wheeled, oval-track racing in the United States.

I WENT to the big NASCAR race at Delaware's Dover Downs International Speedway last Sunday, an experience comparable to Wild Bill Hagy enjoying an afternoon of chamber music.Here is all you need to know about my knowledge of motor sports: I had to ask somebody how you tell which driver is in the lead.But then, I didn't go for fun. I went to the Winston Cup Series MBNA 400 to learn what a motor speedway might mean for Baltimore County, where a group of people who call themselves the Middle River Racing Association want to open a privately funded, 54,800-seat track in Middle River by 1999, then expand it to to 87,000 seats in 2002 and 109,600 seats in 2004.

Bobby Allison sits in his airplane hangar at the Bessemer, Ala., airport trying to place the date when he passed the physical necessary to get his pilot's license back."

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. -- Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains is the track where it all began for NASCAR and Winston Cup stock car racing.Here, behind the red clapboard walls that make up the old-fashioned face of North Wilkesboro Speedway is the oldest track on the NASCAR circuit.Tomorrow, at age 50, the .625-mile track will run its last Winston Cup race, the Tyson Holly Farms 400, ending a long, colorful history and, perhaps more than anything else, signifying the end of an era.The little track that ran its first race in 1947, where the legendary Junior Johnson left the plowing of a cornfield to drive a race among moonshiners' cars in 1948 and that ran its first NASCAR race in a division called Strictly Stock, has reached the end of its road.

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- NASCAR driver Ernie Irvan remained in critical condition and on life support last night, still unconscious from a violent crash in practice that fractured his skull and caused major damage to his brain and lungs.Irvan crashed nearly head-on into the wall while practicing for the GM Goodwrench Dealers 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The Winston Cup Series race is scheduled for today at 12:30 p.m.Driver Ted Musgrave, following about 10 car lengths behind Irvan, said the right front tire appeared to go down on Irvan's black Ford, causing the crash.

The whine of the Indy car is about to be enhanced by a stock car engine's roar.The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the site of the Indianapolis 500, will hold its first Winston Cup stock car race Aug. 6, 1994.Speedway president Tony George and NASCAR president Bill France Jr. made the joint announcement yesterday at the famed 2.5-mile track.It will be the first auto race at the speedway other than the Indianapolis 500 since September 1916.During the past five years, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing has pushed its premier series north to New York and New Hampshire and west to Phoenix and Sonoma, Calif.

Mears regains record to get Marlboro poleBROOKLYN, Mich. -- Oval master Rick Mears knocked teammate Emerson Fittipaldi off the pole for tomorrow's CART Marlboro 500 in a record-shattering qualifying session yesterday at Michigan International Speedway.The day began with Mears holding the track qualifying record of 223.401 mph, set in 1986, and ended with the three-time Indy-car champion boosting it to 225.169.In between, new marks were set five times by four drivers.John Andretti got it started with a lap of 223.655, and cousin Michael Andretti quickly elevated that to 223.840.

His Daytona dream has yet to be realized, but he's getting closer every year.Frank Fleming of Taneytown was 15 when his father began taking him to races, and four years later he began driving mini-stocks on asphalt at the old Beltsville Speedway in Prince George's County. Two years later he built his first car to race at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Va.In the early 1980s, Fleming switched to dirt and began to run street stocks at Dorsey Speedway in Howard County before it closed in 1985, then switched to the limited late model class at Hagerstown Speedway.

The need for speed 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m., 8:30 p.m. [Speed] Can't get over to Dover (Del.) International Speedway? You can get your NASCAR fix with Sprint Cup practice at 11:30 a.m., qualifying at 3 p.m. and the Truck Series race at 8:30. Plus, we're sure a Days of Thunder repeat is running somewhere.

The Cordish Cos., the Baltimore-based development firm behind Power Plant Live! and several Inner Harbor projects, has won a contract with International Speedway Corp. to develop a $705 million casino in Kansas, the companies announced yesterday. The 1.5 million-square-foot Hard Rock Hotel & Casino at Kansas Speedway will include a 300-room luxury hotel and full-fledged casino with 3,000 slot machines and 140 gaming tables, according to a statement from Kansas Entertainment, the joint venture between the two companies.

Baltimore-based developer The Cordish Co. is planning a $250 million mixed-use development across from the Daytona International Speedway, home of the Daytona 500, in a joint venture with a subsidiary of racing promoter International Speedway Corp., which owns the 71-acre site on Florida's northern Atlantic coast. The project, Daytona Live!, would shift from a lunch and retail destination during the day to a dining and entertainment district at night, with preliminary plans for 200,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, a 2,500-seat movie theater, housing, a 160-room hotel and headquarters offices for International Speedway Corp.

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP GFS Marketplace 400 Site -- Brooklyn, Mich. When -- Sunday, 2:30 p.m. TV -- TNT (2 p.m.) Track -- Michigan International Speedway (two-mile tri-oval) Distance -- 200 laps, 400 miles 2005 winner -- Jeremy Mayfield 2005 pole-sitter -- Joe Nemechek CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES Next race -- Grand Prix of Montreal Site -- Montreal When -- Aug. 27 INDY RACING LEAGUE Next race -- Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma Site -- Sonoma, Calif. When -- Aug. 27 FORMULA ONE Next race -- Turkish Grand Prix Site -- Istanbul When -- Aug. 27

Calendar NASCAR NEXTEL CUP Pepsi 400 Site -- Daytona Beach, Fla. When -- Saturday, 7:55 p.m. TV -- Chs. 45, 5 (7:30 p.m.) Trac -- Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile tri-oval) Distance -- 160 laps, 400 miles 2005 winner -- Tony Stewart 2005 pole-sitter -- Tony Stewart INDY RACING LEAGUE Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Site -- Kansas City, Kan. When -- Sunday, 1 p.m. TV -- Chs. 2, 7 Track -- Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile oval) Distance -- 200 laps, 300 miles 2005 winner -- Tony Kanaan 2005 pole-sitter -- Danica Patrick FORMULA ONE United States Grand Prix Site -- Indianapolis When -- Sunday, 1 p.m. TV -- SPEED Track -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.6-mile road course)

Calendar NASCAR NEXTEL CUP 3M Performance 400 Site -- Brooklyn, Mich. When -- Sunday, 1:40 p.m. TV -- Chs. 45, 5 (1 p.m.) Track -- Michigan International Speedway (2-mile tri-oval) Distance -- 200 laps, 400 miles 2005 winner -- Greg Biffle 2005 pole-sitter -- Ryan Newman CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES Grand Prix of Portland Site -- Portland, Ore. When -- Sunday, 3:30 p.m. TV -- Chs. 13, 9 Track -- Portland International Raceway (1.964-mile road course) Distance -- 105 laps, 206.22 miles 2005 winner -- Cristiano da Matta INDY RACING LEAGUE Next race -- SunTrust Indy Challenge Site -- Richmond, Va. When -- June 24 FORMULA ONE Next race -- Grand Prix of Canada Site -- Montreal When -- June 25

DOVER, Del. -- It's somewhat fitting that NASCAR driver Kyle Busch is sponsored by Kellogg's, the company famous for making sugary breakfast cereals that are popular with children. Because Busch, who has the Frosted Flakes cartoon character Tony the Tiger painted on his hood, certainly seems to act like a child when things don't go his way on the racetrack. No one disputes Busch's obvious talent. The 21-year-old Las Vegas native is one of NASCAR's fastest-rising stars. In September 2005 at California Speedway, he became the youngest winner in the history of Nextel Cup racing, breaking a mark that had stood for 53 years.

DOVER, Del. -- Tony Stewart has been called a lot of things during his racing career. Rude. Gifted. Genuine. Volatile. Blunt. Brilliant. Stubborn. Tempestuous. Reformed. Champion. But love him or loathe him, there is one word that everyone seems to agree best sums up Stewart, and the Columbus, Ind., native has always worn it like a badge of honor: tough. Neighborhood Excellence 400 Dover (Del.) International Speedway, tomorrow, 2:10 p.m. TV: FX, 1:30 p.m.

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP Daytona 500 Site -- Daytona, Fla. When -- Sunday, 2:30 p.m. TV -- Chs. 11, 4 (1:30 p.m.) Track -- Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile tri-oval) Distance -- 200 laps, 500 miles Purse -- Approximately $18 million, with a minimum of $1,438,155 going to the winner. Last place pays at least $224,665. Pole sitter -- Jeff Burton Qualifying format -- Only the top two qualifiers from yesterday's qualifying session are locked into their starting positions (Burton and Jeff Gordon)

A weekly briefing on the economic calendar Event of the week The Federal Reserve releases the consumer credit report for February on Thursday. Monday Earnings reports: Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Tuesday Institute for Supply Management services report for March Earnings reports: International Speedway, CKE Restaurants, Research in Motion Wednesday Earnings reports: Circuit City, Dave & Buster's, Hartmarx Corp., Immucor, Monsanto, Schnitzer Steel Industries, Alcoa, Bed Bath & Beyond, Christopher & Banks, NDCHealth Thursday Wholesale inventories for February Earnings reports: Pier 1 Imports, Rite Aid, RPM International, Accenture, Constellation Brands, UTI Worldwide