NASCAR asks for change in venue for Anti-Trust Case

A federal judge should decide soon whether to transfer Kentucky Speedway's $400 million antitrust case against International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and parent company  National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) to a Florida federal court.

 U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman heard oral arguments from both sides Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Covington, KY. between NASCAR and Kentucky Speedway representatives.

 NASCAR, which filed the motion to change the venue, argues that Kentucky Speedway agreed to litigate all disputes in the U.S. Middle District of Florida when it signed 11 different contracts with the Florida organization from 1999 to 2005.

 Kentucky Speedway, however, argues that the consequences of NASCAR's alleged antitrust activity directly affect Kentucky Speedway and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which has also spent money on infrastructure near the park. The case should remain in the Eastern District of Kentucky because the preference of the plaintiffs should have more weight than the choice of the defendants, said Arthur Miller, a Harvard law professor and one of Kentucky Speedway's lawyers.

 Kentucky Speedway sued NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. (ISC) in July, alleging the company kept the Kentucky track from getting a lucrative Nextel Cup race.

 The Kentucky speedway is asking for $400 million in damages and wants NASCAR to establish a competitive bidding process for Nextel Cup races.

 Lawyers for NASCAR & ISC have countered that the speedway has failed to show that NASCAR and ISC violated anti-trust laws. Lawyers for ISC argue that the speedway is too young and inexperienced to promote a Nextel Cup race. According to court documents the allegations are "thinly concealed expressions of bitterness against a more successful promoter" that has been in the business of promoting NASCAR-sanctioned stock car races since 1953, the ISC's motion to dismiss said.

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