AP

NASCAR driver Greg Biffle celebrates as he climbs out of his car in victory lane after winning the MBNA 400 at the Dover Speedway in Dover, Del., Sunday, June 5, 2005.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - NASCAR is planning to bring in the big guns in support of a $368 million racetrack proposal that has, so far, left many lawmakers unimpressed.

Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip and Greg Biffle -- a Vancouver, Wash., native -- will attend a function in Olympia on Wednesday and meet with lawmakers Thursday morning, said International Speedway Corp. Vice President Grant Lynch.

"We think we'll get a good turnout at the shindig we're throwing," Lynch said.

The drivers will have a private dinner with lawmakers in Olympia Wednesday night and will meet with lawmakers Thursday morning at the Capitol before flying to California for the Auto Club 500 this weekend, said ISC spokesman Lenny Santiago.

Santiago said the drivers would speak to lawmakers as people who are "within the industry that are not involved with the company but do race in our facilities."

"They're going to explain why they think this project is important to the state and what our facilities can generate in terms of economic impact," Santiago said.

Economic impact aside, clearly, a little star power away from notably dry hearings doesn't hurt.

"All's fair. If they want to bring in superstars good for them," said Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton and the Senate budget chairwoman.

Prentice said that she'd be meeting with the drivers' this week, and that she's open to what they have to say, but that her biggest issue was the suggested location of Kitsap County.

Prentice agreed with Gov. Chris Gregoire's suggestion that the project be moved to Lewis County near Interstate 5, about 90 minutes south of Seattle.

Lynch said he was thinking about looking at land in Lewis County that TransAlta Corp. has said it would be willing to donate for a NASCAR bid. The county lost about 600 jobs last year after TransAlta shut down a coal mine in Centralia.

Lynch said the danger of moving the track to Lewis County was that the economic model the company has proposed depends on visitors spending money in Washington.

"If we get too far south on I-5, people will start staying in Oregon," Lynch said, and the financing model would have to change.

ISC owns and operates several racetracks around the country, including the Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

The officials were in town Tuesday to testify in support of measures, which are supported by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, that would bring an 83,500-seat track to the state. The Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee had a hearing Tuesday morning, with the House Finance Committee scheduled to take the topic up in the evening.

The company's proposal calls for taxpayers to pay for about half of the facility, with ISC contributing $180 million. The company says it will pay for any cost overruns on the project. The state share would be paid through bonds. The racetrack group contends the cost of the bonds would be more than covered by the sales taxes paid by out-of-state race fans.

The company has been working with local officials on a site near the Bremerton National Airport, but the idea seems to have low public support and no Kitsap County lawmakers are signed on as sponsors to the bills.

The Elway Poll, published last week by independent pollster Stuart Elway, found that public financing for a NASCAR racetrack was opposed by 79 percent of Washington voters and favored by 16 percent.

House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, have been lukewarm to the idea of public subsidies for sports arenas, saying education and health care would be more the focus this session.

Lynch insisted Tuesday that the proposal has the support of some local lawmakers -- naming Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman and Kitsap County Commissioner Jan Angel -- and local business groups and unions.

He also emphasized to the committee that the bill is portable, meaning if things don't work out in Kitsap County the track could be built elsewhere in the state.

Virgil Hamilton, president of the Olympic Peninsula Building and Construction Trades Council, said his organization was supportive of the proposal and that the track would mean "jobs, jobs, jobs."

Many others testified against the track.

"A lot of people moved out to that area for the peace and tranquility and the quality of life," said Kaleen Cottingham, a lobbyist for the Seattle-based environmental group Futurewise.

Bremerton-resident Jacob Metcalf called the bill an "obscene piece of pork filled corporate welfare" and that it is a "direct assault on the sovereignty of Kitsap County, our elected officials and our voters."

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The measure is Senate Bill 6030 and House Bill 2062.