TOPEKA, Kan. -- A partnership involving Kansas Speedway won a contract Friday to build and manage a state-owned resort casino that will overlook the track.

The Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board picked Kansas Entertainment, formed by the speedway and The Cordish Co., of Baltimore, over two competitors to build a casino in the Kansas City area. The decision ties a high-profile attraction in the state's biggest tourist-drawing area to what officials believe will be Kansas' most lucrative casinos.

The proposal calls for a $680 million Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with 3,000 slot machines, a 300-room hotel and convention center and retail outlets. It would overlook the No. 2 turn of the 1 1/2 mile D-shaped track.

"I think the opportunity to build a casino at Turn Two of Kansas Speedway is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," review board Chairman Matt All said. "I think it would be an iconic symbol in Kansas."

Wyandotte County is one of four places where a state-owned casino is allowed under a law enacted last year. The state will own and regulate the casinos and receive at least 22 percent of the revenues. Private companies will manage the day-to-day operations.

Last month, the speedway said that if it received the Wyandotte County contract, it would seek a second NASCAR Sprint Cup race. It promised to build a road course in its infield and have a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car race there by 2011. It also said it would bring in thousands of recreational vehicle users each year for a rally generating millions in revenue.

The promised projects aren't part of the 15-year contract the speedway signed with the Kansas Lottery, which owns the gambling. But Jeff Boerger, speedway president, said they all will happen.

"Yes, we will deliver. We have our reputations to maintain," Boerger said after the vote.

Final approval will come from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, which will regulate the casinos, after a background check that's expected to take a couple of months.

Meanwhile, the current economic crisis caused the seven-member board to postpone a decision until Sept. 26 on picking either Butler National Service Corp., or Dodge City Resort and Gaming for the Ford County casino. Both applicants say they have financing lined up, but board members wanted more evidence.

"If this was three or four months ago, 'Trust me, I'm rich' might have worked," said board member Jim Bergfalk, of Mission.

Steve Joseph, of Wichita, an investor in the Dodge City Resort venture, said his group will have no problem showing it has adequate backing for the $70.3 million project.

"We have the capacity to bring $70 million to them in a briefcase," he said.

Doug Smith, Butler project director, said he wasn't surprised by the request on financing its $88 million proposal.

"We can very crisply put our picture together," he said.

Last month, the board picked a group led by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., of Las Vegas, for the Sumner County casino, near Mulvane.

It also endorsed a contract with Penn National Gaming Inc., the only applicant in Cherokee County, but the Wyomissing, Pa.-based company dropped its plans last week, citing competition from a nearby Quapaw tribal casino in Oklahoma.

Backers of the casino law had hoped it eventually would generate $200 million a year for the state.

The vote for the speedway proposal in Wyandotte County was 4-3, with the dissenters choosing a plan from Golden Gaming Inc., of Las Vegas. The third applicant, Legends Sun, a group involving the Mohegan tribe of Connecticut, received no votes.

About 150 speedway employees attended the board's meeting, many wearing yellow T-shirts. They broke into applause after the vote.

"I think it's about time that we got started with it," Kansas City, Kan., resident Julie Cannon said. "We've been waiting a long time for it, to get it started, to get going and it will put a lot of tax dollars back into Kansas."

Boerger said construction should begin next month and a temporary casino should be open by June. He said speedway owner International Speedway Corp. and Cordish together will put up 40 percent of the money, with firm commitments from lenders for the rest.

Unified Government Mayor Jack Reardon said the casino would mean 6,000 jobs.

"The economic impact for our county, the taxes that will be paid, are going to be crucial to our future, and it offers new opportunities that we have never had before," Reardon said.

The area around Kansas Speedway in western Wyandotte County has seen a boom in retail development in recent years, and the track draws about 1 million visitors a year.

Blake Sartini, Golden's chief executive officer, called the speedway proposal "a great one."

"We had a fair shot, and the fact that we got three votes substantiates our proposal," Sartini said.

Golden Gaming had proposed a $662 million complex, while Legends Sun said its project would cost $767 million. Although Legends Sun promised the largest investment, the review board's consultants concluded it would produce the lowest revenues. The board's consultants said the speedway's plan would generate the most revenue in the first year -- $222.7 million, with the state receiving around $49 million.

A fourth applicant, Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., of Las Vegas, pulled out Tuesday, citing turmoil in the nation's financial markets. A $2 billion project Pinnacle has pursued in Atlantic City, N.J., also has stalled. In July, Las Vegas Sands Corp., dropped out, citing increased borrowing costs as a factor.