Drag strips closing every Day!

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Texas Red

Texas Red

Old Flunky
FABO Gold Member
Joined
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Location
Lake Corpus Christi
Even with the Lone Star state being 268 thousand square miles I hear yet about another drag strip closing down over here, there and everywhere. With all the BS coming at us from those who want to cram EV down our throat the saddest part is boys will be boys and street racing is on a major rise! As a friend and I was recently discussing back in the days when we had the old Mustangs, Camaros, Barracudas and the likes (1975).... those cars where just what we thought was fast. They produced 150 to 250 HP and yes, we thought we were John Force OK .....I get it but the cars of today are a different animal. The cars of today that some kids Dad is buying for him/her at the dealerships are very capable of massive horsepower are not for some high school young punk who do not realize how easily that car can and will get out from underneath you and some adults either for the record. Its not the the damage from a wreck caused that's the most tragic thing from holding down the pedal to long its the lose of a young persons life who really had no business in a Dodge Demon- Hell cat, Coyote Mustang and the likes. Its only going to get worse as these young folks do not have a safe place to run these cars as more and more of the dragstrips close.
 
Very little money and Low HP keep us alive !!
4 stroke dirt bikes keep me alive , glad we were to poor to afford two stroker's
 
The only (usable) quarter mile strip in southern california, an area of what? 20 million people, closed last year, and the two mile indy/Nascar track (that had the dragstrip in the parking lot) closed this year.
Why? Who knows, there ne ver was a good explanation.
What's gonna be built in its place? A short track..... just like the two others within 50 miles.
We now have a total of two 1/8 mile strips for all of Southern california, and if the new roundy in Fontana puts Irwindales roundy out of business (again!) we lose one of those two strips.
How I envy those of you that have three or four strips to chose from.
Edit: I forgot about Bakersfield, being 1/4 mile. But then, its at least 150 miles from LA, 180 from my house. Irwindale is 15 miles, Fontana WAS 20, and pomona (IF we could use it, f#@k you nhra) is less than 5.
 
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Not all car were around 100/150 HP. I was 10 years old in 1968 and I remember guys coming home from Nam and buying Hemi and 440 cars and Shelbys that they lost their lives with from inexperience with major HP.
 
What really burns my biscuits is assholes that move within earshot of a race track and then relentlessly ***** about noise, crowds and fan behavior. Move somewhere else like the planet Pluto.

Case in point a lawyer that moved into the vicinity of Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin has filed law suits.

Cedarburg, Wisconsin had a 1/4 and 1/3 mile clay oval track at fireman’s park. Bitching about noise,crowds and behavior was constant from new residents from 1973 on. Result? Track closed in 1979 and the reason? The grand stand built in the late 1800’s was deemed structurally unsound and too close to the track. Insurance companies refused to insure the track. If you believe all that bitching didn’t have nothing to do with it, I bet my bottom dollar it did, there is always stuff going on behind the scenes, folks pulling strings.
Now fireman’s park is used for flea markets, looky loo’s walking around digging through other folks garbage and unwanted junk. The unsound grand stand still stands and while no one is allowed to sit in it, it is used for indoor flea market space and the bar is still there. That’s a bunch of total bulls **** right there. Totally ruined the culture and character of the city and southern Wisconsin. Before car racing which started in the late fifties, there was motorcycle racing and before that horse racing dating back to the mid 1800’s.

I’d like to personally thank the folks that ruined my hometown I grew up in and have lived in all my life.
 
Same thing happened to Thornhill Dragstrip in KY. They can only run. on Saturday nights and until a certain time. They are now trying that with Edgewater also.
 
Texas Red said:
Even with the Lone Star state being 268 thousand square miles I hear yet about another drag strip closing down over here, there and everywhere. With all the BS coming at us from those who want to cram EV down our throat the saddest part is boys will be boys and street racing is on a major rise! As a friend and I was recently discussing back in the days when we had the old Mustangs, Camaros, Barracudas and the likes (1975).... those cars where just what we thought was fast. They produced 150 to 250 HP and yes, we thought we were John Force OK .....I get it but the cars of today are a different animal. The cars of today that some kids Dad is buying for him/her at the dealerships are very capable of massive horsepower are not for some high school young punk who do not realize how easily that car can and will get out from underneath you and some adults either for the record. Its not the the damage from a wreck caused that's the most tragic thing from holding down the pedal to long its the lose of a young persons life who really had no business in a Dodge Demon- Hell cat, Coyote Mustang and the likes. Its only going to get worse as these young folks do not have a safe place to run these cars as more and more of the dragstrips close.
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What drag strip in Tx is closing down??
 
ch1ll said:
What really burns my biscuits is assholes that move within earshot of a race track and then relentlessly ***** about noise, crowds and fan behavior. Move somewhere else like the planet Pluto.

Case in point a lawyer that moved into the vicinity of Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin has filed law suits.

Cedarburg, Wisconsin had a 1/4 and 1/3 mile clay oval track at fireman’s park. Bitching about noise,crowds and behavior was constant from new residents from 1973 on. Result? Track closed in 1979 and the reason? The grand stand built in the late 1800’s was deemed structurally unsound and too close to the track. Insurance companies refused to insure the track. If you believe all that bitching didn’t have nothing to do with it, I bet my bottom dollar it did, there is always stuff going on behind the scenes, folks pulling strings.
Now fireman’s park is used for flea markets, looky loo’s walking around digging through other folks garbage and unwanted junk. The unsound grand stand still stands and while no one is allowed to sit in it, it is used for indoor flea market space and the bar is still there. That’s a bunch of total bulls **** right there. Totally ruined the culture and character of the city and southern Wisconsin. Before car racing which started in the late fifties, there was motorcycle racing and before that horse racing dating back to the mid 1800’s.

I’d like to personally thank the folks that ruined my hometown I grew up in and have lived in all my life.
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This!^^^
It really pisses me off of how stupid some of these people are.
Bandimere Speedway (Mile high track in Colorado) closed in October. The track has been there since 1958, and people have been complaining about the noise as they build more houses closer to the track. You build your damn houses close by a bloody racetrack, what did you expect? Bunch a dumbshits.
I am hearing that the Bandimere family is possibly building a new track somewhere else. I hope that is true.
Just like the story about the Lion's Club shooting range here Bountiful UT that's been there since the 1950's, they then started building these elaborate homes higher on the mountainside closer to the range. Then the idiot more-money-than-brain snobs started complaining about the noise and concern about stray rounds hitting their houses.
I mean how stupid are you to complain when you're the one who moved close to a shooting range that has been there decades before you? They had a fire right next to range in 2019, all these ****-headed snobs were quick to blame the range. The end result after the investigation? It was from an unattended campfire after some teenagers from the nearby neighborhood had a "camp party" that might've included underage drinking.
Same story goes for the idiots who move close to race track.
We had the old Rocky Mountain Raceway here in Utah close down in 2018 a track that's been there since 1968, and this was more due to greed. I mean there were some complaints from those who lived nearby about the noise.
The land was made into an industrial area forking in more money for whoever leased out the land. The nearby residents who did complain about the noise realized it's even worse now. Traded racecar music to industrial noise, chemical smells and semi-trucks going in and out (there's a DHL and Mearsk shipping warehouse in the mix as well).
And they wonder why Salt Lake City has had a huge spike in illegal street racing the past few years and steadily getting worse... You think?
Sorry for the rant about stupid-**** people, LOL.
 
Owners of drag strips do it for the money....not charity.
Nobody is going to watch silent [ EV ] cars go down the strip; it would be more exciting to watch grass grow.....
The writing has been on the wall for some time....
 
Bewy said:
Owners of drag strips do it for the money....not charity.
Nobody is going to watch silent [ EV ] cars go down the strip; it would be more exciting to watch grass grow.....
The writing has been on the wall for some time....
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It's not EV. They barely exist. Its due to population expansion that raises land value. Thus property tax and operation expenses.

It's a business. And it's tough for track owners to look at millions from a developer and not have deep thoughts.

Drive in movie theaters ran into same thing decades ago. Not because of a drop in demand. But because land value got was just too high to ignore.

Today? There is a drop in demand for performance entertainment with the upcoming generation. Unless it's an app on an iPhone.
 
Our roundy round race track is now a baseball stadium. People visit it more than they did the cars.
 
Here in Minnesota the top dog is BIR. (Brainerd International Raceway.) 800 acres right in the middle of Brainerd Lakes and tourist lands. So far the newer owners. (Actually been owners for over 10 years now) are holding strong to what I can only imagine is a barrage of real estate offers.

Running and just visiting as a fan is expensive. So I only partake in seasonal track competitions. Test & tunes at 2 closer and less expensive tracks. One 1/4 mi. One 1/8 mile tracks.

So far, so good.
 
Recently San Antonio raceway East of San Antonio as they use this land for parking new Toyota trucks on where the transport trucks come for pick up/ distribution, Royal purple Houston 2022,
Edinburg TX running a hit n miss schedule as this land is owned by the city of Edinburg which will not renew the lease with anyone.
For us over here in the South/central part of the state that leaves Little river just South of Waco TX---a 6 plus hour tow to get there
CC Speedway opened in 1949 (The states fastest 1/4 mile asphalt high banked track in Texas where Nascar ran a race in 1950 where a Hudson Hornet won the race) Corpus Christi TX also worth noting this was the home track of Bobby (2000 Nascar champ) & Terry Labonte The (1984 & 1996 Nascar champ), Slick Yeomen, Rick Rapp closed 2015,

Not only dragstrips but other dirt track facilities like Goliad Speedway Goliad TX 3/8 mile High banked dirt track...2015/2016...... sold to a real estate developer from Houston

Racing is racing even though I mention dirt tracks those boys fly on the dirt as well. It leaves me wondering what are we seeing here??????? The end of an era as we once knew it?
 
Rumor is that Alexis DeJorias' father recently purchased 200 acres next to COTA (Circuit of the Americas, Austin TX) where they are going to build a brand new NHRA facility to replace the Baytown TX track and utilize the RV slots/Rental spaces/ Racers RV's etc... when there is not an event happening at C.O.T.A...... I will believe it when they break ground on it
 
Texas Red said:
Rumor is that Alexis DeJorias' father recently purchased 200 acres next to COTA (Circuit of the Americas, Austin TX) where they are going to build a brand new NHRA facility to replace the Baytown TX track and utilize the RV slots/Rental spaces/ Racers RV's etc... when there is not an event happening at C.O.T.A...... I will believe it when they break ground on it
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I hope that's true. There has been a rumor of a drag strip at COTA for years.
 
Texas Red said:
Recently San Antonio raceway East of San Antonio as they use this land for parking new Toyota trucks on where the transport trucks come for pick up/ distribution, Royal purple Houston 2022,
Edinburg TX running a hit n miss schedule as this land is owned by the city of Edinburg which will not renew the lease with anyone.
For us over here in the South/central part of the state that leaves Little river just South of Waco TX---a 6 plus hour tow to get there
CC Speedway opened in 1949 (The states fastest 1/4 mile asphalt high banked track in Texas where Nascar ran a race in 1950 where a Hudson Hornet won the race) Corpus Christi TX also worth noting this was the home track of Bobby (2000 Nascar champ) & Terry Labonte The (1984 & 1996 Nascar champ), Slick Yeomen, Rick Rapp closed 2015,

Not only dragstrips but other dirt track facilities like Goliad Speedway Goliad TX 3/8 mile High banked dirt track...2015/2016...... sold to a real estate developer from Houston

Racing is racing even though I mention dirt tracks those boys fly on the dirt as well. It leaves me wondering what are we seeing here??????? The end of an era as we once knew it?
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Oh good. I thought you were talking about a new closure. One of the reasons I moved out of Central Texas to Corsicana was for racing. I am 45 minutes from 2 tracks, 2 hour drive increases that number to 5 and a 3 hour drive adds Ardmore to my list. If I had stayed in Liberty Hill, Little River would have been it.
 
Well our dream of moving back north will most likely be the end of my racing. Two tracks have closed. I would have had an 1/8th mile venue 25 min from our property and another nice 1/4 track 2.5hrs away. As of now the closest tow will be 320 miles or 340 miles one way!
 
My closest track is now Redding, 92 miles away now that Sacramento has closed. Better than nothing I suppose.
 
I guess I am lucky after reading these posts!

#1 Edgewater Raceway Park - 40 mins
#2 Thornhill Dragway (KY) - 45 mins
#3 Kildare - 60 mins
#4 National Trails - 90 mins
#5 IRP - 105mins
 
Our closest track closed last year, now they you can rent space there to park truck and trailer, closest for me is over 3 hours, its only 1.5 hours to Sonoma but that is only 4 races a year.
 
Tell me about it !!! we lost Englishtown and Atco here in N.J. over the last few years , I ran at both of them... Luckily my local track Island Dragway is going strong... being ran by the third generation of the original owners ... its been my home track for the last 40 or so years ... its about 35 minutes from my house ...
IMG_0721.jpeg
 
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