County officials met with backers of a NASCAR facility in SK.

The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners Thursday said that while there is no official plan by the International Speedway Corporation to put a NASCAR track in South Kitsap County, the idea is still being considered.

South Kitsap Commissioner Jan Angel said board members met with ISC representatives Thursday to discuss a Kitsap racetrack site, but added that no new information could be provided other than the company was still interested in discussing the idea.

“It is important to us that people understand where we are in this concept,” Angel said, reading from a prepared statement. “We have no proposal or deadline from ISC, (and) meetings with (them) today provided us the opportunity to ask more questions and about what they are looking for and a process that could emerge should ISC proceed with development opportunities.”

Angel went on to say that if racetrack backers indicate in the future that they intend to proceed with such a plan, the board “will establish a process for public input before it makes any commitments to ISC.”

The board issued a statement Thursday in response to an article in the Oregonian newspaper, discussing ISC’s search for a racetrack site in the Northwest.

The newspaper reported, “A site in Kitsap County south of the Bremerton National Airport is considered the frontrunner.”

At a commission meeting earlier this month, local aviation enthusiasts spoke out against such a project, asserting the dangers of placing a racetrack so close to an airport.

“NASCAR is known for this, building a track near a rural airport so they could fly their jets right up to the track,” said Don Dicksion, president of the Bremerton Pilots and Tenants Association.

Dicksion said local pilots had known of this problem for several months and decided to go public at the Kitsap County commissioners’ meeting to give the issue a wider visibility.

If NASCAR builds on the proposed site, they said, it would restrict the times the airport was in use. Such restrictions would seriously impair the airport’s expected growth, he said.

Angel said she had not heard about these restrictions, noting they bear investigation.

Angel declined to weigh the needs of NASCAR against those of the airport, saying “I won’t make that call until there is a proposal from NASCAR.”

North Kitsap Commissioner Chris Endresen also wanted to know the facts before taking a stand. But if NASCAR seriously restricts airport growth, she said, “That will be an issue for me.”

ISC has been looking for a racetrack site in the Northwest for more than year.

Talks with Snohomish County officials last year broke down over questions of public financing and traffic impacts.