530/741-6463 or fax 530/742-7835
mhansen@syix.com

CHAMP CAR OWNERS ARCIERO AND FORSYTHE
TO BUILD YUBA COUNTY MOTORPLEX NEAR SACRAMENTO

MARYSVILLE, CA, NOV. 18: Two of the CART FedEx Championship Series’ most influential leaders today announced plans to construct a world-class, multi-purpose motorsports and entertainment facility in Yuba County, California, just north of Sacramento.

Auto racing has become the fastest-growing major spectator sport in the country. Frank Arciero, Sr., co-owner of Arciero/Wells Racing, and Gerald Forsythe, owner of Forsythe Racing, have seized the opportunity to satisfy the demand on the part of many thousands of sports fans in Northern California for world-class auto racing.

Developer Frank Arciero, Sr., said: "For several years now I have been interested in building a new track to capitalize on the rising popularity of racing in this country and to bring motorsports to a major new market. I looked for the right opportunity for a long time. Yuba County was perfect, not only because of its location, but also because of the support shown by the Board of Supervisors and the community. I know this project will be a winner in every way."

"The demand for track time and events within motorsports is currently at an all-time high," developer Gerald Forsythe said. "Our objective is to keep this facility operating 365 days a year, through testing, racing schools, club activities, corporate events, and, or course, top-level competi6tion dates. By providing facilities geared towards every aspect of the racing industry, we know this project will grow to benefit our investors and the economy of Yuba County."

The Yuba County Motorplex is designed as a state-of-the-art, multi-use facility capable of accommodating virtually every type of professional auto racing. The 900-acre site will feature, among other facilities, a 1.3-mile banked oval, a 4,650-foot drag strip, and several road courses in configurations ranging from 1.2 to 2.1 miles. Spectator areas will include grandstand seating for 40,000 on the oval, 10,000 on the drag strip, plus open spectator viewing areas and luxury suites. A total of 20,000 parking spaces will be available, in addition to parking for competitors, VIPS, motorhomes, and buses.

Spectator access to the facility is excellent, thanks to the availability of four routes that connect the site to other highways and interstates extending in all directions. The location provides easy access to State Routes 65 and 70, as well as to Interstate 80 and Interstate 5. Phase one infrastructure improvements for local roadways already are underway in the area to help facilitate traffic flow.

Groundbreaking for the first phase of the Motorplex itself, which will include the oval and road courses, is slated for late spring, 1999, with racing commencing in 2001. The second phase of construction, which will include expanded grandstand seating, the drag strip, and The Yuba County Motorplex brings a superspeedway to one of the most lucrative and fastest-growing media markets in the country. Located in north-central California, Yuba County is less than 30 miles north of Sacramento, less than 100 miles from the San Francisco Bay area, and just over 100 miles from Reno, Nevada.

The Sacramento Metropolitan Area boasts a population of 1.7 million within a 50-mile radius of the Yuba County Motorplex. Sacramento is the state capital of California and is the fourth fastest-growing market in the nation. The Sacramento area television market is ranked 21^st out of 211 measured markets in the U.S., covering more than one million households.

The Sacramento area is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies and is rapidly becoming a major center for high-tech industry. Technology leaders such as Hewlett Packard, Intel, Packard Bell, Oracle, Apple, and Zytec all have facilities in the area.

The Sacramento area also provides a variety of tourism and entertainment options, ranging from Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east, to the San Francisco Bay Area, coastal redwood forests and the Pacific Coast to the west. Sacramento is home to the Sacramento drag strip seating, will be completed by the end of 2002.

Kings NBA basketball team and the Sacramento LPGA Classic Golf Tournament. The region has several convention facilities and approximately 14,500 hotel rooms within a 50-mile radius of the project site.

The Yuba County Motorplex has received overwhelming public and business support from the community of Yuba County. The project was made possible by a special ballot measure held in January of this year in which the citizens of Yuba County delivered an 86 percent vote in favor of the project. The project also receives significant state tax incentives as part of the Yuba-Sutter Enterprise Zone under the California Enterprise Zone Program.

The community expects to benefit tremendously from the anticipated creation of 1,200 new jobs and an estimated annual economic benefit of $120 million.

"The Yuba County Board of Supervisors has backed this project since day one, and the 86 percent yes vote shows that the people of this county agree with us," said Supervisor Don Schrader. "We pride ourselves as being pro-business. The Motorplex shows what we can achieve when we’re presented with exciting new projects."