Cabarrus County races to prosperity.

• Position: Special Advertising Section: Regional Focus

Maybe it's the presence of a NASCAR track in its largest town, but things are happening quickly these days in Cabarrus County. Retail sales have nearly tripled in 10 years. Its population has increased by about 35,000, to 136,300 during that time. That's a 34% gain. And over the same period, per capita income is up about 58%, to $29,000, 8% above the state average.

Of course, this isn't the first time the county has undergone an economic boom. In 1799, a 12-year-old boy made the first documented discovery of gold in the United States in the southern tip of the county. Reed Gold Mine launched the country's first gold rush, but, of course, it wasn't sustained. The county's leaders are working to make sure the latest boom, grounded in NASCAR, shopping, tourism, entertainment, a varied industrial base and, obviously, nearness to Charlotte, continues for the foreseeable future.

A key element of that economic-growth formula is Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord. The 1 1/2-mile racetrack seats 167,000 three weekends a year when it hosts races in stock-car racing's major league, the Winston Cup. On other dates, it hosts car shows, monster-truck events and dirt-track races, among other attractions.

Doug Stafford, executive vice president of the speedway, says the track is preparing for the 2003 season by continuing a four-year-old policy of refurbishing older areas. "We'll redesign the main entrance to the track and build a new pedestrian plaza." The speedway also is expanding and improving parking lots.

Concord Mills, which opened in September 1999, continues to attract shoppers to its more than 200 stores.

Stafford won't give many details of two major projects at the track. He says the speedway has been negotiating to add other sporting events and hinted an announcement was possible before the end of 2002. The other project is a racing-related sculpture being erected at the track. An Atlanta company is working on the piece, which he says will be "a substantial piece of art" that the speedway hopes will be completed in time for Race Weeks -- the two weeks leading up to the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day.

Back on the track, the most visible change will come during the speedway's fall race, which will be on a Saturday night for the first time. Among other things, it means the race will be broadcast nationally during prime time.

But perhaps the key event next year for the speedway will be The Winston, the all-star stockcar race held during the first...