SCCA Runoffs to move

The Topeka-based Sports Car Club of America has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. today amid speculation that it was bringing a major racing event to Heartland Park Topeka. A statement from SCCA says the nation's largest active member-based motorsports organization "will make a major announcement impacting the entire state of Kansas, specifically Topeka." Steve Johnson, SCCA president and chief executive officer; Gov. Kathleen Sebelius; and Mayor James McClinton are scheduled to attend. Last fall, the Topeka City Council approved spending $5 million to improve the road track at Heartland Park. Raymond Irwin, owner of Heartland Park, said at the time Heartland Park would bid to acquire a three-year contract that would begin in 2006 to host the SCCA National Championship Runoffs, which attract more than 700 drivers. Neither officials from SCCA nor Heartland Park would comment Wednesday on whether the event was moving to Topeka from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, where it has been for 11 years. Capital-Journal