Construction stopped on Kern County's "New Home for NASCAR" several months ago. Developers say the project is the victim of the current economic down-turn, and now they're trying to find private funding to finish the track.

A viewer contacted the Eyewitness News tipline asking about the delay, and we discovered the the project's original funding fell apart.

"The primary source of our funding for this project was an $80-million land deal which fell out of escrow after we started construction," track president Larry Collins told Eyewitness News on Friday.

"Now we're at the point of looking for the funding to complete the track." Collins says they need $32-million, and he thinks they can find that. But the financial setback is serious.

"We have contractors that are owed money on the project right now, but we're letting them know that we're looking really hard to find the funds to complete the project, get them paid, and get back to racing as soon as we can for our community."

Eyewitness News asked Kern Economic Development Corporation business development specialist Andrea Lee if the project can recover.

"Yes, if they get the private investment," Lee said Friday. "I believe they have the goal to open the track debt-free and start fresh. And then you'd probably see more retail, more commercial development in the area."

The project is right off Interstate-5 at Enos Lane. An economic study done a couple years ago by Cal-State Bakersfield economics professors found the NASCAR Raceway would have positive local economic impacts.

Collins says the project is about half-done. The half-mile track is ready. Seats are up in the grandstands. The new track will have 5-thousand permanent seats, and room to add extra seats to hold up to 30,000 people.

Collins says the facility is designed so other events could be held there like RV shows or concerts. And he says they'll eventually have a large lawn where kids can play, or parties or fund-raisers can be held.

They still need to build a four-story structure above the grandstands. That will house the luxury suites, offices and concessions.

The Collins family ran Mesa Marin northeast of Bakersfield for years. They shut that down several years ago and broke ground on the new facility in February 2007.

They originally hoped to have the new racetrack open by this March, but Collins says the original funding fell apart in April 2007.

He hopes to find private funding by this Fall, and says when construction resumes -- the project could be finished in seven months.

Collins thinks the project can overcome the economic detours. "There's lots of people in our community that are willing to bring some funding to the project and get it completed.

"That's where we're at. It's no small task, but we're making a lot of progress and we're getting closer and closer every day to get this thing back under construction and back underway."

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