Sparta, KY

For years, about the only commotion the 133 residents of tiny Sparta, Ky., ever noticed was an occasional CSX freight train blowing its horn as it passed over State Route 35, pulling its heavy load from Louisville to Cincinnati, about 50 miles northeast.

Settled nearly two centuries ago in the Eagle Creek valley, where the old Sparta Mill served surrounding farms, the postcard-perfect village’s “business district” straddles the border of Gallatin and Owen counties, nestled between high, rolling hills formed at the edge of the last glacier eons ago. It’s hard to imagine a more peaceful setting.

The landscape changed drastically, however, when Jerry Carroll, a Tennessee real estate developer and former owner of Turfway Park in northern Kentucky, jumped feet-first into auto racing and brought NASCAR to town several years ago. He chose the area because it’s a manageable distance for the many racing fans from both Louisville and Cincinnati.

The roar of high-powered engines now echoes in these pastoral hills at the Kentucky Speedway, one of the newest auto racing facilities in the United States. And with the raceway have come new jobs, increased property values, and opportunities for local entrepreneurs.

Sparta residents such as Carol Farrar, a part-time post office employee and owner of the Sparta Department Store, watched in wonder as the ground for the Kentucky Speedway was excavated on a huge tract of land across from her family’s farm just north of town and Interstate 71, the highway connecting Louisville and Cincinnati.

“We were all kind of sitting back, waiting to see just what was going to happen with it all,” Farrar says.

But it turned out fine. Farrar says she and her neighbors have found the racing crowd to be quite amiable. Best of all, she says, during the racing season, they eventually find their way into her store where they can enjoy one of her daily lunch specials or stock up on necessities in the department store.

“During the racing weekends, there’s just tons of traffic, and that has meant a lot of new business for us here in Sparta,” she says.

Neal O’Connor, a Sparta resident who works for Delta Airlines at the nearby Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, last year transformed a plot of land he owns near the speedway into a campground for the RVers who religiously trek to the auto races. He plans to open a gas station at the campground that also would provide services for motorists off I-71 year-round.

But a few residents, such as Dennis Cornelison, pastor of the Sparta Baptist Church, worried that the lightning-paced world of auto racing would literally pass many residents by. He’s still not convinced that the raceway is what the town needed, but he also sees advantages in being able to reach out to those who follow auto racing in a unique ministry.

“The owners of the track have been gracious enough to let us bring the Baptist Racing Association onto their property,” Cornelison says. The association is a national organization founded in North Carolina for NASCAR fans. “We set up a tent and have Sunday services and serve coffee to racing fans.”

Meanwhile, Kentucky Speedway owner Carroll and his four business partners have made it their ultimate objective to attract the crown jewel of auto racing: a NASCAR Winston Cup race. And while they work their way toward that goal, the speedway has brought some pretty impressive racing to fans from throughout the Southeast and Midwest. The Kentucky Speedway’s second year will feature United States Auto Club, Automobile Racing Club of America, NASCAR Busch Series, NASCAR truck, and Indy car races in four weekend extravaganzas from May through August.

During the off season, proud Sparta residents simply have an awesome new structure to look at.

“I think it’s just beautiful,” Farrar concludes. “Every time I go up around the speedway, I have to turn around and look at it and marvel at it. It’s really something to see.”

Dennis O’Connor, an avid racing fan, writes from Park Hills, Ky.

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