Jerry Carroll's strategy is to make it look like he doesn't have one.

''Mike Helton doesn't like to be sold,'' says the owner of Kentucky Speedway. ''You just have to know what he likes and doesn't like.''

	Kentucky Speedway, which was completed in 2000, can hold 70,000 people for a race.

What the NASCAR president likes, presumably, is to fly in on the day of an event -- in this case, the day is Saturday and the event is the Kroger 300 Presented by Oreo, which is not a cookie show at all but Kentucky Speedway's big Busch Series race -- and be met at the airport with a helicopter.

Mark Simendinger, the Speedway president, will do the tarmac thing, and Simendinger will instruct the helicopter pilot to fly systematically over the outlying areas of what, for a day, will be Kentucky's third largest city -- the new interchange, the new zillion-lane road, the campsite, the RV community and of course the vastly improved, mud-proofed parking lots.

Then they'll land on the infield, where Carroll and Darrell Waltrip will be waiting with hearty handshakes and a few questions that they're dying to ask but won't right away. Helton will want to make the rounds of the garages first, then talk to some of his officials, then, as race time approaches, maybe have some refreshments and meet some people he hasn't met before, like Bob Huggins, who will be waiting in Carroll's box, which is the best place to talk, anyway.

A lot of times, when the ear is Helton's or NASCAR director Kevin Triplett's, Carroll lets Waltrip do his talking. ''Darrell speaks their language,'' he says, besides which, Waltrip also speaks his mind rather famously, which makes it easy for him to say things that Carroll couldn't, such as, ''Hey, Kevin, when are we getting that Winston race?''

That's the one and only question, of course; has been since the day the Speedway opened two years ago without one, which will ultimately prove either incredibly foolish or outrageously bold, depending on the final answer.

It was expected to happen in 2003, which is fast approaching. In the meantime, everybody agrees that Kentucky Speedway is a handsome facility, that it's agreeable to the drivers, that it does things right, that it brings folks out and pleases them. When, then?

On that score, Carroll likes to reflect on the words that have been lodged in his ears since last summer. ''As we were leaving the Busch race,'' he says, ''Mike Helton bent over and said the words that I won't forget. He said, ''Just be patient.'''

This is something that Carroll isn't particularly adept at but is willing to try, if he must. His partners aren't known for their patience, either, but they're diversified businessmen and their money isn't about to run out. So the five of them breathe deeply and hope that the Speedway's sweeping views turn Helton's head.

They have turned others'. An Indianapolis writer recently rated Kentucky Speedway's concourse as the fourth-best view in open-wheel racing, which suggests that the best time for Carroll to speak up Saturday night is probably when Helton has that frame in his sights and the picture is enhanced by 70,000 people packed into the sides of a prodigious bowl dug into five old Gallatin County farms.

When he does talk business, however briefly, Carroll specifically wants to mention The Winston. That's a no-points NASCAR all-star event that has traditionally been held in Charlotte, N.C., which accommodates so much car racing that only left turns are permitted on city streets. NASCAR officials have broached the idea about moving The Winston to a less saturated site, and that's all Carroll needed to hear.

He has already written a letter and printed a presentation.

''The difference between (Helton's visit) this year and last year is The Winston,'' he says. ''We see ourselves as a neutral court.''

But there's more.

''The one wrinkle I'm going to pitch this weekend is a Busch series all-star race, sort of a Busch version of The Winston. DW and I will be floating that balloon. If Helton says no, that's stupid, then we'll forget it and never bring it up again. But if we had The Winston and a Busch race, we'd take that every year.''

A Busch race -- maybe not Carroll's concept, but one Busch race or another -- is pretty much a given now. This is the second year the Speedway has had one, and in turn it will be the second year of Busch drivers gushing.

It's Carroll's hope that all the flattery will get him somewhere, and soon. He figures that Busch drivers become Winston Cup drivers, and if they like to race at Kentucky Speedway, someday they inevitably will.

Carroll's response to all of this is to rummage through a folder on his desk, searching for a quote he wrote down from Phil Simms, the old New York Giants quarterback, on the subject of getting your due. ''You may not win them over,'' said Simms, ''but if you hang around long enough, you'll wear them out.''

What it means is, be patient. It's advice that Carroll is gradually coming to grips with.

Lonnie Wheeler writes for the Cincinnati Post.