NASCAR asks judge to dismiss suit by Kentucky Speedway
JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press

COVINGTON, Ky. - NASCAR asked a federal judge Thursday to throw
out Kentucky Speedway's $400 million antitrust lawsuit, arguing the
track's true intention wasn't to beat an alleged monopoly but join
it.

The case, being heard in U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Kentucky, alleges auto racing's governing body conspired
with International Speedway on which tracks should be host to
coveted Nextel Cup races. Kentucky Speedway, located in Sparta
about halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati, was left out.

Judge William Bertelsman said he would act soon on NASCAR's motion
to dismiss the case. He pointed out that another antitrust case he
dismissed two weeks ago was a "simpler situation than this."

Lawyers for Kentucky Speedway, a track not even six years old, argue
in the suit that if it were allowed to compete, it would have been
one of the tracks to have a Nextel Cup race. They cite safety
features, state-of-the-art amenities and a colossal fan base
allowing for larger purses to winning drivers.

Still, it was left off because NASCAR claimed there was no room on
the 36-race Cup schedule. Of the 22 tracks that do have the races,
ISC owns or controls 12 of them.

But NASCAR's attorney said the speedway had no standing to sue
because its goal was not to assure competition - as antitrust law
guarantees - but to essentially become part of the monopoly the
track says it wants to bring down.

"These are people who are trying to get the benefits of the very
antitrust, anticompetitive conduct they're attacking," said NASCAR
attorney Stuart Singer.

Kentucky Speedway's lawyers said that wasn't true. If successful at
landing a Nextel race, they said, the speedway could be in a
position to join forces with other tracks to eventually compete
directly with NASCAR for top stock car racing events in the future.

Jerry Carroll, the leader of the $152 million track's ownership
group, attended the court hearing, which lasted about two and a half
hours, but declined to comment afterward.

Also Thursday, International Speedway Corporation argued it
shouldn't be part of the case at all because it doesn't do business
in Kentucky.

"They're NASCAR's rules," said ISC lawyer Jack Donson. "They're not
International Speedway Corporation's rules. There is zero necessity
for NASCAR to conspire to adopt those rules."

But Kentucky Speedway's lawyers pointed out ISC does conduct
business over the Internet and produced an online sales receipt that
originated in Kentucky on Thursday morning. ISC is just as
responsible for diminished competition as NASCAR, they said.

"These guys - ISC - were going in and buying these dog tracks that
were losers, that had no Nextel race, and low and behold, they got
the Nextel race," said Kentucky Speedway attorney Stephen Susman.
The date for the next court appearance hasn't been set.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/state/13612144.htm

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