Kansas City, Kan. ? One way or another, there will be more fans in the seats for Winston Cup action at Kansas Speedway in 2004.

The Kansas City track and government and civic groups on both sides of the state line are pushing hard for a second Cup date when NASCAR reshuffles its schedule for 2004.

But if a second date doesn’t materialize, track president Jeff Boerger said, the 2-year-old speedway again will expand after this season. Kansas Speedway added 1,500 seats in the offseason after its second straight sellout year, bringing its capacity to 78,000, and already has sold out its 2003 season-ticket package.

Last week, Boerger and other officials presented the track’s case to its parent company, Daytona, Fla.-based International Speedway Corp. ISC is owned by the family of NASCAR owner Bill France.

“Who knows when there’s going to be another opportunity to get another race?” said Steve Kelly, the Kansas Department of Commerce’s director of business development and a member of the team trying to land a second race. “When you get the opportunity, you’d better make a run at it.”