Brad Keselowski reveals how Congress can help NASCAR build Fontana short track

In the last week, a number of NASCAR drivers and representatives went to Washington, D.C., including Brad Keselowski. A number of drivers were present as part of the National Motorsports Coalition and the Congressional Motorsports Caucus.

Toni Breidinger, Brad Keselowski, Richard Petty, and Rajah Caruth were all in the nation’s capital to talk to representatives about the future of motorsports. NASCAR and motorsports racing are considered American pastimes and this coalition and caucus are there to preserve that history and future.

On a new episode of Backstretch Banter, a podcast from RFK Racing, Brad Keselowski talked about his experience. He was able to speak to the congresswoman who represents Fontana, California.

She had an interesting question for Keselowski. He had an interesting answer.

“So we go there, you know, we meet with congress,” Keselowski explained. “Lot of members in different congressional districts. I met with the lady, I think her name was Anita, whose district is the Fontana Speedway, and she wanted to know when we were racing again in Fontana.”

Not to pick on Brad here, but he did get the congresswoman’s name wrong. The congressional representative for Fontana, which is in the 35th district in California, is Norma Torres, a Democrat. But that doesn’t take away from his overall point.

“I told her, hopefully, really soon you can impact that. Because the Motorsports Caucus key initiative is to make it so that NASCAR can invest in racetracks – not just NASCAR but any sanctioning body – can invest in race tracks, and does not take money from the community, but also does not get taxed for their investment on their facilities,” Brad Keselowski continued.

“Which is really important because if you’re going to put like $100M into a facility, which is candidly, more than that for some of these facilities is what they need to stay up with the times. Like, you don’t want to take that hit, plus the taxes on top of that. So, it allows them to make critical investments in infrastructure that allows motorsports to survive and thrive for, hopefully, decades to come.”

Brad Keselowski makes a good point. NASCAR has stated that the Fontana short track will be a $300,000,000 investment. If they have to pay taxes on top of that investment, it could only push the sport further away.

However, with congressional support, there is another way. I don’t think anyone wants to take public funds to build this facility. If they can get tax breaks in the process, it definitely makes it easier for NASCAR to say yes.

The Fontana short track seems like the Loch Ness Monster at this point. I’ll believe it when I see it with my own eyes.