COVINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky Speedway formally appealed a decision dismissing an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp.

The speedway's lawyer, Stan Chesley of Cincinnati, filed notice of appeal on Friday with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

``We're moving forward,'' Chesley said. ``We wanted to move on that appeal as quickly as we could.''

U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman dismissed the two-year-old lawsuit on Jan. 7.

NASCAR and ISC filed a joint motion for summary judgment last summer and on Nov. 19 the opposing sides presented arguments before Bertelsman in U.S. District Court in Covington.

Kentucky Speedway alleged that NASCAR had conspired to leave the Sparta track and others out of the Sprint Cup -- formerly known as the Nextel Cup -- series despite their superior amenities.

The speedway, located about halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati, has drawn huge crowds to some of its other races. The NASCAR Busch race, now called the NASCAR Nationwide series, last year drew more than 70,000 people to the 1.5-mile tri-oval in northern Kentucky.

The speedway had asked that ISC be ordered to sell some of the tracks it owns that host Sprint Cup races and that the speedway be awarded more than $200 million in damages.