Commentary: Kentucky Speedway traffic jam was no fun

Traffic backs up on Interstate 71 South at the exit to the Kentucky Speedway on Saturday. Some motorists said traffic was backed up more than 10 miles by 2:30 p.m. The Cincinnati Enquirer photo by Patrick Reddy

Patrick Reddy/MBR Traffic backs up on Interstate 71 South at the exit to the Kentucky Speedway on Saturday. Some motorists said traffic was backed up more than 10 miles by 2:30 p.m. The Cincinnati Enquirer photo by Patrick Reddy

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By Greg Billing, Staff Writer Updated 12:39 AM Tuesday, July 12, 2011

As I sat in the Kentucky Speedway parking lot 2 a.m. Sunday, I deliberated about joining the sea of red taillights stretching for miles and miles toward Dayton or sleeping in my van for an hour and then making my very slow escape.

I also had another thought.

Is it possible Kentucky Speedway owner Bruton Smith wanted some traffic congestion outside his track? Something he could take to Kentucky’s governor and say, fix this.

It’s just a theory, of course. And certainly Smith didn’t want anything near what happened that resulted in the lambasting that continues in the news and on social media like Facebook and Twitter.

But on a lesser scale, snarled traffic on Interstate 71 — and Smith’s own comments calling the beleaguered I-71 a disgrace — could have been strategically intended to put additional pressure on the state to take immediate action.

If so, it backfired.

Smith — as owner of seven other tracks and knowing what roads he had to work with compared to his other facilities — surely knew Kentucky Speedway would face a traffic and parking crisis when he bought the track.

Saturday Smith said he hoped race fans were forgiving.

They are.

But as a fan said in an email on his experience, “We may be forgiving but we sure aren’t forgetting.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2400, 6991, or gbilling@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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