The operator of the West Plains raceway owned by Spokane County is seeking bids for upgrades to the drag strip, including replacing much of the asphalt strip with concrete and adding barrier walls.

"All premier tracks have concrete to 330 feet" from the starting line, says Jay Livingston, general manager of Austin Motorsports Management LLC, which runs what's now being called Spokane County Raceway.

The pre-stage or "burnout" area of the drag strip, which stretches more than 80 feet back from the starting line, also will be replaced with concrete. Asphalt will be left in place on the rest of the quarter-mile drag strip. The improvements, which an engineer has estimated at about $350,000, are necessary to bring the drag strip up to National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), standards, Livingston says.

The county bought the 314-acre park, at 750 N. Hayford Road, for $4.3 million at last spring. Austin Motorsports Management LLC, owned by West Side businessman Bucky Austin, signed a 25-year agreement to operate the racing facility.

As part of the current bid package, new concrete barrier walls will be put in place on both sides of the drag strip, he says.

T.W. Clark Construction LLC, of Spokane, is the construction manager for the project. Bids for the drag strip work will be accepted until March 4.

Among other improvements, some of which will be put out to bid next month, will be a new timing and scoring system and new scoreboards, Livingston says.

Austin's agreement with the county calls for at least $2 million in improvements to the raceway, says Livingston.

Other work planned later includes installing new public address systems. Also, offices currently are being remodeled there, and all the buildings will need to be repainted, he says.

Racing is scheduled to start there May 1, Livingston says.