NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Darrel Waltrip and driver Greg Biffle will be in Olympia tomorrow to push for a Kitsap County racetrack.

They will do meet-and-greets around the Capitol and attend a reception for the sponsors of the NASCAR track bill. In a move to get union support for a track, the drivers will also stop by a Washington State Labor Council reception.

Comments from Gov. Christine Gregoire and House Speaker Frank Chopp make it seem pretty unlikely the bill will pass. But man, Richard freakin' Petty! If he drove up in this, lawmakers would be powerless to stop the track. Chopp would paint his face Petty Blue. Adam Kline would slap "43" on the side of his Prius. STP would be served in the Capitol cafeteria. That Superbird is the stuff of 1970s, teenage, gearhead, fantasy. I've got to calm myself.

UPDATE: Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Silverdale, a track opponent, e-mailed after reading this post alarmed that I had joined the pro-track forces:

Hope you can get a grip, David....why should State and local taxpayers be obliged to assume the risk of paying for construction bonds and the costs of off-site impacts for a NASCAR project? The biggest winners in this are the Florida-based family and private corporation that stands to benefit if the State were to allow the use of state and local tax dollars to help finance their venture. It's not like they cannot afford to do it themselves. Public funds should be used for clear public purposes, like building and sustaining the general public infrastructure we all depend on...public schools, colleges, highways, and the ferry system. On top of this are the various negatives which include adverse environmental and transportation impacts for Kitsap residents, which make Kitsap County a poor choice of site.

OK, I have gotten a grip. And let's be clear, I am not advocating that the Legislature approve the track plan. I don't give my opinion on such things. But I have ripped away the veneer of objectivity today to say I am four-square behind the 1970 Plymouth Superbird and do not expect me to write objectively about the car.