The four-year odyssey to build a motorsports park at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, across from the Corvette assembly plant, is eight months away from completion. It was 2010 when the plan was announced to build a complex of two road courses totaling 3.1 miles, a kart track, a 10-acre autocross course and a quarter-mile drag strip on 184 acres of land next to I-65. An architect was hired in 2012, and the latest word is that workers will begin laying the road base in spring so that the $35 million facility opens in time for the museum's 20th anniversary in August this year.

Observers aren't waiting until August to pay attention, though. CNN has already put the facility at #17 on its 50 States, 50 Spots for 2014 list, and the park's blog says it already has 118 events booked. Having been told that this is a non-denominational racetrack - it is open to any cars, not just Corvettes - it's looking like a great start for more racing in the heartland.