WASHINGTON - Stuffed in a package of proposed corporate tax breaks the Senate passed Tuesday is an order to the Internal Revenue Service: Don't start treating NASCAR like something other than a carnival ride.
For three decades, the owners of NASCAR tracks have built grandstands and added restrooms or concessions using a seven-year depreciation schedule, an arrangement also enjoyed by amusement parks.
But given the actual life of such grandstands, the IRS has begun challenging whether racetracks and amusement parks should be treated the same. Recently, the agency has been telling track owners they should use depreciation periods of 15 years or more, which would reduce their tax deductions by half on an annual basis. They still could recoup their investment, but it would take twice as long.
NASCAR leaders are saying they aren't seeking anything special; they just want the tax treatment they've enjoyed in the past put into law.
"We've had this. It's worked, and why mess it up?" said Humpy Wheeler, president of Speedway Motorsports, which operates six racetracks. "Everybody's trying to get an economic advantage today, whether it's taxation or whatever it is. There just simply won't be as much construction if we don't have the favorable depreciation."
While track owners are the primary beneficiaries, politicians are conscious of the latest political target demographic: "NASCAR dads." They're white, working-class men who like President Bush but could be persuaded to vote Democratic, particularly in state and local races.
