Lesa France Kennedy, president of International Speedway Corporation, should have the votes to bring a second NASCAR Sprint Cup race to Kansas City.</p><p>All she needs now is for the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to approve a $700 million hotel and casino plan proposed by Kansas Speedway and The Cordish Company.</p><p>Kennedy told the commission on Wednesday at Kansas City Kansas Community College that if it selects the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino over three other casino proposals for Wyandotte County, she would ask the NASCAR Board of Directors for a second Sprint Cup weekend at Kansas Speedway.</p><p>And who comprises the five-person Board of Directors? Kennedy; her brother, NASCAR chairman of the board Brian France; her uncle, NASCAR vice-chairman Jim France; and two of their trusted executives, NASCAR president Mike Helton and NASCAR secretary/general counsel Gary Crotty.</p><p>You do the math.</p><p>&#8220;I hope the chances (of getting the second date) are as good as our getting the casino,&#8221; said a smiling Kennedy, a driving force in getting Kansas Speedway built.</p><p>From the day the track opened in 2001, Kansas Speedway president Jeff Boerger never hid his desire to secure a second Sprint Cup date to go with the annual fall weekend and the Indy Racing League weekend earlier in the year.</p><p>Kansas failed to secure a second date in 2004-05 when NASCAR last realigned its schedule. During that period, California Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway were awarded second dates, while Darlington (S.C.) lost its traditional Labor Day Southern 500 race; and Rockingham (N.C.)&#8217;s two races were dropped from the schedule.</p><p>ISC owns 12 tracks on the NASCAR Cup circuit, and seven &#8212; Daytona International Speedway, California Speedway, Phoenix, Michigan International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Richmond International Raceway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway &#8212; have two races.</p><p>Kennedy said the second Kansas race would come from an ISC track that has multiple Sprint Cup races. California Speedway has not drawn well recently, but NASCAR may not want to give up the exposure it gets in Southern California.</p><p>That could make Martinsville vulnerable to losing a date, considering the series would still have three races in Virginia and two in nearby Bristol, Tenn.</p><p>&#8220;The one thing I can tell you about previous realignments is NASCAR has tended to look favorably on successful racetracks, and also racetracks in larger markets that have proven themselves,&#8221; Kennedy said at a news conference. &#8220;Having said that, (Kansas Speedway&#8217;s) proposal for realigning a date would be looked upon in a favorable way.&#8221;</p><p>Boerger quickly added: &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t hurt that your major sponsor, Sprint, is in your back yard.&#8221;</p><p>A second Sprint Cup weekend would bring another $111 million into the Kansas City area economy, according to research Economics Group Inc.</p><p>The Kansas Gaming and Racing Commission is expected to make its decision in late September &#8212; possibly during the Sprint Cup weekend on Sept. 27-28 at Kansas Speedway. If it selects the Kansas Speedway/Cordish plan, the hotel/casino likely would open in late 2010 or 2011, so the earliest the track could have two Sprint Cup races would be 2010, but more likely 2011.</p><p>Boerger said he wants to maintain the late September weekend, which is the third leg in NASCAR&#8217;s 10-race Chase for the Championship that determines the series champion. If the additional race takes place in the spring, it could affect the dates of the annual Indy Racing League weekend. In 2006, the IRL was moved from the oppressive heat of July 4 weekend to late April after Kansas Speedway was unsuccessful in convincing ISC to install lights.