Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 6

Section A Page 6 Star-Telegram Friday April 4 1997 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY I RSTATE BATTERIES 500 Speedway officials plan office tower TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY entrance A west lot filled up Wednesday Ralph Horton said Horton said that he his wife their Chinese pug puppy and pet bird arrived last week to help the speedway make sure that everything runs smoothly in the sea of recreational vehicles campers and trailers that by last night were surrounding the speedway on three sides Yesterday under rainy skies Texas Motor Speedway finally did what it was designed to do it provided a place for drivers to compete with other drivers in a test of speed At the same time it provided Fort Worth Roanoke Denton County and other agencies' officers a place to test their traffic management skills The not-exactly-dry run went fairly well apparently "It's been pretty smooth" said one dripping Roanoke officer He said his department estimates that 40000 vehicles passed through the speedway's entries and exits Several thousand soggy but presumably happy campers almost filled a lot at the speedway's north The tower will be at Turn 1 of the speedway track and make "an architectural statement" a company executive said The facility will be open year-round No price has been set on memberships to the club nor has a limit been placed on the number of members that will be accepted Speedway officials expect that many owners of the tracksrde condominiums will buy memberships to the club Speedway Club Tower will be similar to another private track-side club at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte NC That facility is also owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc room on the top floor that will seat up to 1200 people In addition the building will have banquet meeting and conference rooms on its fifth floor Texas Motor Speedway's executive and administrative offices will be on the second third and fourth floors There will be no office space for lease to outside businesses The restaurant will be perhaps the most significant feature of the building It will offer three or four tiers of tables so that each diner has a clear up-against-the-glass view of the racetrack The area around the speedway does not currently have a fine-dining restaurant and company exec- utives said the club should be a hit with local business people Construction on the 150000-square-foot facility was scheduled to begin today Texas Motor Speedway executives say the project could be completed this year Texas Motor Speedway General Manager Eddie Gossage said the decision was made to go ahead with the long-discussed project because other phases of the speedway complex especially the sold-out condominium tower have done so well "It's one of those things we were going to wait on doing but we decided to go ahead because of the success we've had here" Gossage said yesterday By David A Markiewicz Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH Speedway Motorsports Inc is adding another major building to its sprawling Texas Motor Speedway complex in north Fort Worth Company executives including Speedway Chief Executive Officer Bruton Smith today were expected to announce immediate development of an eight-story glass office tower The building will have a fine-dining restaurant that will be open to members of the private Speedway Club Tentatively called Speedway Club Tower the $50 million building also will feature a full-service health club for members on the ground floor and a ball CQifflTDOYSfM TO NTBRSTJ ATTBRIBS SOO April a MM Bud Bath Traffic jams still expected though none yesterday VIPs plan to travel to the races in style By Chambers Williams HI Star-Telegram Staff Writer As motorists jam all roads to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday plenty of VIPs plan to go over the traffic rather than through it Sens Kay Bailey Hutchison and Phil Gramm will come in by chartered helicopter Ross Perot Jr a record-setting chopper pilot will fly his own to the speedway But the flight paths over North Texas may have a minitraffic jam all their own "We'll see helicopters coming in one after another" speedway spokeswoman Laura Maready said Other VIPs will arrive in limousines and fancy motor homes and some will land private jets within a few miles of the speedway But only the choppers will be able to avoid the race day traffic completely To accommodate them the speedway has built three count 'em three concrete helipads just north of the track and has reserved space near the pads for the hel-copters to park There are two more helipads in the infield but those will be reserved for emergency medical transfers Maready said A lot of bigwigs and anyone else who can afford the $200-plus fare will take helicopter shuttles from nearby Alliance and Meacham airports Once they reach the speedway some guests will be greeted at a hospitality tent and then taken by ground shuttles the rest of the way to the grandstands Maready said Speedway owner Bruton Smith will fly his jet in but because he is arriving today he will have a rental car for the weekend and will drive to the speedway Sunday morning along with most other speedway officials Dignitaries who arrive in stretch limousines will have to put up with the traffic like everyone else on the ground speedway officials said Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr who prides himself on being a man of the people said yesterday that he will attend but won't be coming by helicopter "I don't own one" he said "I'm going to drive myself And I won't be in a limo either" Barr said he is counting on the traffic to flow a lot better than many people have predicted "I'm planning to go early on Sunday but I'm optimistic it's going to move very well" he said "People should be pleasantly surprised" sss lit" fj 3 1 i 1 By Chambers Williams III Star-Telegram Staff Writer Suppose they predicted a traffic jam and nobody came Yesterday the first day of racing events open to the public at Texas Motor Speedway left dozens of traffic officers standing alone at their posts scratching their heads "Is it beautiful or what?" Fort Worth police spokeswoman Cathy Truly said State transportation officials had expected 80000 people to attend qualifying heats but estimated that less than half that number showed up 'To tell the truth we didn't have as much traffic as we expected" said Wallace Ewell director of transportation operations for Texas Department of Transportation Yesterday's lower attendance is typical for the first day of qualifying something that speedway officials have been trying to tell local authorities for months a speedway spokesman said yesterday Sunday is always the biggest day at NASCAR tracks nationwide he said Yesterday's experience has led the Transportation Department to lower its predictions for today's crowd to 10000 to 20000 people Ewell said But just wait he said "We still expect the big jams on Saturday and Sunday when they're actually having races" Ewell said "Getting to the track is still going to be a challenge" Both races this weekend are expected to draw well with Sunday's attendance expected to be 200000 Ewell said For the weekend races Ewell cautioned motorists not to use two of the routes to the speedway from Northeast Tarrant County and north Dallas that speedway officials have promoted: Texas 114 west to Texas 170 to connect to north Interstate 35W and I-35E north to Denton it connecting to I-35W south Both of those routes suffer from a narrow single-lane transition to I-35W and could have massive traffic backups Ewell said Instead the department recommends that Grapevinenorth Dallas area traffic should follow Texas ll4 west to the speedway "We can run two lanes all the way through on 114" Ewell said "Most of our resources are concen- trated on 114 and we've made arrangements for that road to handle a lot of traffic" Traffic planners also ask that track-bound traffic from Fort Worth avoid Farm Road 156 Instead motorists are urged to take 1-3 5W north to Texas 114 then west to the track or US 287 north to Rhome then Texas 1 14 east to the speedway Although police won't stop race traffic from using Farm Road 156 north from Loop 820 or US 287 signs will direct speedway traffic to use the other routes he said That is because officials hope' to keep Farm Road 156 flowing freely for buses and emergency vehicles going to and from the speedway and for local and through traffic he skid The speedway has built a connector road from Farm Road 156 to the track To keep from being stranded in that traffic Sunday motorists can park at Tarrant County Junior College Northwest Campus off Ldop 820 West and take a shuttle bus! to the speedway officials of the Rort Worth Transportation Authority said The will operate 50 buses which can hold a total of 2000 people spokeswoman Mary Herring said The buses will load from 8 9 am and return from the speedway immediately after the race she said Cost is $10 for the round trip and parking is free Payment must be in cash Herring said Staff writer Betsy Blaney contributed to this report I SK 1 Tm -ill Star-TelegramALLisoN Smith Troy Schob soaps down a Budweiser Clydesdale in downtown Fort Worth yesterday for RaceFest Because of the rain the giant horses stayed near their tent at Fourth and Houston streets Walks are planned for 5:30 pm today and 2 pm tomorrow weather permitting Residents vendors have their own trial runs 1 After officers learned that it had not they asked the man to move on No citation was issued Miller said In Roanoke businesses were decked in NASCAR and Coca-Cola banners welcoming race fans to town Merchants will be ready whenUhe crowds arrive they said At Dove Creek Cafe owner Rose Lai had a few out-of-town customers yesterday and she will open at 5 am two hours early in anticipation of more Vendors along Oak Street had their own trial run yesterday carefully arranging sunglasses mono-grammed T-shirts and hats and other memorabilia in kiosks and tents They chatted with each other or reclined in their cars and trucks parked nearby hoping for better weather and speculating on how business is bound to increase fin race days Staff writer Betsy Blaney contributed to this report "It's out-of-town people" said Juanell Smith co-owner of Justin Treasure Chest "We feel like things are going to be good" The momentous weekend has already made its mark producing a yarn that can only grow with age Late Wednesday they say an Oklahoma man hauled in a gigantic portable barbecue shack on an 1 8-wheeler set it down in the middle of Texas 114 and was cooking 4000 pounds of chicken and brisket when the cops shut him down Sounds good What actually happened was this: A Trophy Club resident decided Wednesday to try to sell barbecue to racing fans from his recreational vehicle parked alongside Texas 114 Trophy Club officers noticed the goose-neck RV across from Plantation Oaks Apartments after lunch Wednesday Police Chief David Miller said "We made the assumption first that it was broken down" Miller said Kr By Bryon Okada Star-Telegram Staff Writer After weeks of speculation about irrevocable changes to their area residents near Texas Motor Speedway discovered that the pace of life around town is slowly shifting Most businesses served regular customers and motorists moved around with unexpected ease yesterday as racing time trials got under way "I took the whole week off" said Patricia Cantu who had expected traffic snarls between her home in Roanoke and her job in Irving She spent yesterday afternoon sipping drinks with her husband and friends at the Roanoke VFW But hints that a tourist and business boom in small towns such as Roanoke Haslet and Justin is just around the corner were found in cars with license plates from Minnesota Iowa California New York Kansas andjOklahoma driving along narrow two-lane roads leading to the speedway I taUnr-nu'VltDIi' UrtfXDC Allen White of Hutchiift cleans the Go Gator children's ride yesterday for Keller's Speedway Festival Fireworks which opens today.