Just some questions about Tracks...

[Smokey1226]

How wide must the lanes be, Also to make it NHRA approved what are the lengths of the shut down areas?

How deep does the concrete have to be? 5" ??

What do most Tracks do during the winter for income? Hold on for dear life and hope they saved enough to cover payments? Rent it out for something?

Just curious thanks!
Chadly

[Irish]

^ Thinking of opening a track? Hmmmm?

[Al]

What do most Tracks do during the winter for income? Hold on for dear life and hope they saved enough to cover payments? Rent it out for something?

Indoor track FTW!

[Smokey1226]

Nah, just asking some questions.

Thanks in advance.

[subliminal1284]

Do it, Indoor track would kick ass. Would cost alot to do because you would have to have some type of ventilation system for the fumes. But it would make up for it cause you would be opened year round. Probably put GLD out of business but who cares we would have a year round track.

[Smokey1226]

lol, easy guys im a broke kid with big Dreams....

I just want to know some of the technical info.

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

Tracks for a train ?
Dragstrip or Dragaway please. :thumbsup

Not to jack the thread but does anyone know what ever happened to that yahoo who owned hales corners speedway and crystal ridge ? After he sold those chunks of land off to the city of Franklin or whatever there was talk of Franklin allowing him to build a circle track, MX course and dragaway out by AL's in Franklin, was that plan abandon ? Is the guy still around ?

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

Do it, Indoor track would kick ass. Would cost alot to do because you would have to have some type of ventilation system for the fumes. But it would make up for it cause you would be opened year round. Probably put GLD out of business but who cares we would have a year round track.


GLD has been around as long as drag racing, you want a year round track ? Its called the south.

[MoCkiN U]

air/noise management for an indoor track with osha and insurance requirements would be insanely expensive. The land required for a building so freakin big wouldnt exactly be cheap either.

[CobraSnake]

Now I don't know about the regulations of a track but thats what he asked you guys. He didn't ask if it was going to be expensive.

Mark

[lasttimearound]

Tracks for a train ?
Dragstrip or Dragaway please. :thumbsup

Not to jack the thread but does anyone know what ever happened to that yahoo who owned hales corners speedway and crystal ridge ? After he sold those chunks of land off to the city of Franklin or whatever there was talk of Franklin allowing him to build a circle track, MX course and dragaway out by AL's in Franklin, was that plan abandon ? Is the guy still around ?

John Cashen (sp?) still owns crystal ridge, however the city of franklin has been pursuing him for a while since he hasnt been adding enough fill each year as per his contract with them. he opened the bmx track at crystal ridge, they also have a driving range now, as well as their mtb trails that meet with the alpha trail. as far as the race track he planned on, i wouldnt count on it, as i understand it, hes broke. if i see him when i ride tomorrow ill ask him about it.

[stenchmiester]

i am realy intersted in checkign out those trails and the bmx track can u pm me more info?

[ND4SPD]

What about a track with a dome like Miller Park.:goof

[CPonyGo]

i am realy intersted in checkign out those trails and the bmx track can u pm me more info?


sorry chad to jump off topic.....but thought more may be interested...

Crystal Ridge (http://blogs.jsonline.com/offthecouch/archive/2008/08/06/turning-the-pedals-on-the-crystal-ridge-bmx-track.aspx)

[ND4SPD]

Hey if you're going to build a track, you have to put a highway loop in for highway pulls. :) I tried doing a quick check at NHRA.com and on google and nothing really jumped out at me. You might just want to make a call up to Great Lakes and ask them. I don't think they'd be too worried about someone building another track right on top of them.

[CPonyGo]

......a roll racing track...........ftmfw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

[Russ Jerome]

Funny thing is it used to be opening a track would be very difficult. Now with so many organizations trying to get cars of the street and the money a real NHRA track brings in municipalities will do what they can to help:

CONCORD, N.C. -- Bruton Smith, owner of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., said Tuesday that if Concord does not work with him on a controversial drag strip, he’ll take Lowe’s Motor Speedway somewhere else.

Smith told Eyewitness News he is already looking for plots of land in the Charlotte area. He said he’ll close LSM and build a new speedway and his own airport so that race car drivers will easily be able to fly in and out of town.

“I’ve built more speedways than anyone else in the world,” he reasoned. He said it would only take him 11 months and about $350 million to erect another one.

Concord doesn’t look like it’s going to be a place for him to grow, he said, so if city leaders don’t change their minds, he will take his business and go.

Smith said he’s dumbfounded that the Concord City Council voted against a proposed drag strip near the speedway on Monday night, effectively changing the area’s zoning rules. Workers had already started grading the land to make way for the strip.

Dozens of residents showed up at the city council meeting to protest the strip so close to their homes. Others argued the economic benefits of such a motorsports attraction, which would provide jobs and revenue in the area.

Smith will have to take the city to court in order for the decision to be reversed. He wants to undo an annexation, which made the speedway, and the land around it that had been zoned for motorsports, part of the city limits.

“Either they go, or we go,” he said.

Eyewitness News contacted the mayor of Concord and told him what Smith had to say. He said he had no comment.

Smith is estimated by Forbes to be worth more than $1.4 billion.

Speedway Move Would Have Big Economic Impact


More than $6 million was deposited by LMS leaders at Bank of America on Tuesday for winners of the October races -- the amount is just a fraction of the billions of dollars NASCAR pumps into the local economy.

Now the future of the track at the center of the local racing world is in doubt – but John Cox, the president of the Cabarrus County Chamber of Commerce, believes even after Monday night's decision an agreement could still be reached.

"Anything that they can do, can be undone, so I think until we come to the end of the race, there's an opportunity to make something good out of what's bad," he said.

Cox said Concord and Cabarrus County are already in trouble after losing several large industries, and losing LMS would hurt more than all those combined.

But with the bad news, track president Humpy Wheeler remains positive.

“There's room for improvement, as they say," he said.

The speedway is not only a big moneymaker for Concord. According to the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, each of the NASCAR Nextel Cup events held at LMS brings $100 million into the Charlotte economy, meaning Charlotte gets at least $300 million a year from speedway events.
__________________

Thats obviously an extreme case that includes NASCAR aka: BORING racing but there are plenty of little towns out there who would love for someone to came and put them on the map (like we needs another corn feild). Real tracks on NHRA schedules (seating and track conditions must be top notch on top of safety and shelter) bring huge money in. Even IHRA tracks who dont host large events have built in parks and other events year round. Topeka and Milan come to mind when you think of traks that could operate without any drag race income, cool places to go visit and take the family.

[Russ Jerome]

PS: Mr Smith got everything he asked for days later.

[Smokey1226]

sorry chad to jump off topic.....but thought more may be interested...

Crystal Ridge (http://blogs.jsonline.com/offthecouch/archive/2008/08/06/turning-the-pedals-on-the-crystal-ridge-bmx-track.aspx)

no need to be sorry, that is awesome info!


Wes- I checked around too and didnt find much. However im going to do some research for the next couple years and put everything together.

This has been my BIGGG dream and im not stopping till i get it! BTW, the indoor style setup would be insane! Cost a ton, but would be a neat idea. I highly doubt anyone would ok it though.

As for roll racing, that would be neat.....but i would setup everything so that we could do accurate 60-130 times. As close to roll racing as possible, while still being rather safe.

My big Goal, is to make it NHRA legal, because i want the Big Boy cars to come and play. Great Lakes lost any hopes for that, and continue to make any big name racers more and more rare. I want to reverse that and make it so the Tim Lynch's of the world want to come play with :headbang

[Greg@GLD]

no need to be sorry, that is awesome info!


Wes- I checked around too and didnt find much. However im going to do some research for the next couple years and put everything together.

This has been my BIGGG dream and im not stopping till i get it! BTW, the indoor style setup would be insane! Cost a ton, but would be a neat idea. I highly doubt anyone would ok it though.

As for roll racing, that would be neat.....but i would setup everything so that we could do accurate 60-130 times. As close to roll racing as possible, while still being rather safe.

My big Goal, is to make it NHRA legal, because i want the Big Boy cars to come and play. Great Lakes lost any hopes for that, and continue to make any big name racers more and more rare. I want to reverse that and make it so the Tim Lynch's of the world want to come play with :headbang

There's several things worth nothing with regard to your ambitions...

"Enclosed facility for year-round racing"

Great idea. I've thought of it too... problem is, people with nice cars aren't going to drive them on salty roads to go drag racing in January. We find at GLD that once the first snow happens and they salt the roads, even if we stay open on a nice day late in the season, most of the "nice cars" have been put away for the winter and the insurance has been taken off. We live in a part of the country where people put the hotrod away for several months. Obviously not everyone, but a high percentage of your customer base will go into hibernation by December 1st. That's just fact.

As for your comments about GLD and "big name racers" goes...

The cars are simply getting too fast for the facilities.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/nhra-shortens-top-fuel-and-funny-car-14-mile-distance-to-1000-feet.html

Our facility is one of the oldest continuously operating dragstrips on the planet. Back when GLD was built, there was no such thing as a top fuel funny car capable of a 4-second/300MPH pass. We used to hold big National NHRA events, but as the cars got faster and faster, our shutdown become effectively shorter. Our run-down area goes right to the edge of County Road KR, we cannot make it any longer. If we tried to "re-align" our dragstrip by moving it farther back on the property, we would have to do extensive re-grading in order to have a level dragstrip. It would cost a fortune to do so and we would never see a positive return on our investment. (There has been an in-depth study done on this, it ain't gonna happen)
Let's say for the sake of this topic that we did that anyway... Ever heard of Route 66 International Raceway? (Obvious loaded question)
We have a "World Class" NHRA facility just to the south of here, it would be somewhat foolish to attempt to compete with them for NHRA events. It's located in a better market and is designed for "National" events. There is no need for another facility like that in this market.

In the current economic state, things are very "iffy" for dragstrips and aftermarket companies and such. Many people are hurting BADLY from the housing/mortgage crunch, the energy crisis we are currently experiencing and several other factors. Having Brian (puffnfluff) shoot off his big mouth and pissing people off so they don't want to come to our dragstrip isn't helping either (But that's "our" problem and not something to factor into your ambitions)

When you make a business plan, it's wise to evaluate the market you plan to enter into and be sure there's an adequate customer base to support your business. In this market (Greater Chicago- Milwaukee is considered a suburb of Chicago) you would have a rough time trying to get a new dragstrip put together, get NHRA sanctioned, and see anywhere near enough profit to remain in the black. Just making payroll and paying property taxes and insurance would eat up a large percentage of your cash flow. I happen to know these things because I have become much more involved in the operations of GLD and have seen real figures and understand the situation much better than I used to when I was "just the webmaster" and thought I knew better than "they' do.

It's nice to dream though. :thumbsup

If you do decide to go for it, I wish you all the best. You'll never know if you don't try I suppose...

[ND4SPD]

our shutdown become effectively shorter

I dunno, I have to get on the brakes pretty damn hard even with my slow-ass Supra. When I race at Rock Falls up near Eau Claire... it's a MUCH more gradual slowdown. I'd say the shut down has been a problem for a long time.

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

Cool old GLD videos on youtube, great facility and asset to the community. :thumbsup

I think getting zoning approval for a dragstrip in 90% parts of SE would never happen, too many cry babies who dont like the "noise-light pollution/engine emissions".

[Smokey1226]

I appreciate the words Greg, but i believe with the people that are already behind my program as well as many more to come i think everyone would work. I wouldnt take on this big of a setup if i didnt think it would work.

In Brians Defense, it take a LOT more than 1 guy to piss off a huge portion of this racing community.

But untill then this is just an idea and ill support GLD like everyone else.!!! See you guys Friday night (hope for no rain)

[Greg@GLD]

I appreciate the words Greg, but i believe with the people that are already behind my program as well as many more to come i think everyone would work. I wouldnt take on this big of a setup if i didnt think it would work.

In Brians Defense, it take a LOT more than 1 guy to piss off a huge portion of this racing community.

But untill then this is just an idea and ill support GLD like everyone else.!!! See you guys Friday night (hope for no rain)

:thumbsup

[Car Guy]

In Brians Defense, it take a LOT more than 1 guy to piss off a huge portion of this racing community.

True but its horrible business to even allow the chance of pissing off potential customers. Whether its 1 person or 100 it doesn't matter because word of mouth is the best/worst advertising. I know of many people that would rather race on the street illegally than go to RSDs just because of him and how its run. It's unfortunate because I feel RSDs could (and should) be much bigger than it is.....

[Greg@GLD]

True but its horrible business to even allow the chance of pissing off potential customers. Whether its 1 person or 100 it doesn't matter because word of mouth is the best/worst advertising. I know of many people that would rather race on the street illegally than go to RSDs just because of him and how its run. It's unfortunate because I feel RSDs could (and should) be much bigger than it is.....

Comments like yours are what we want to hear about, so we can try to improve. I do not wish to hijack Chad's thread with this, just let me say that we are waiting for the processing so we (GLD) can be a BCM site sponsor and when that process is complete, we can establish a dialog with regard to your comments. We'll continue this discussion in the proper format.

[CobraSnake]

Comments like yours are what we want to hear about, so we can try to improve. I do not wish to hijack Chad's thread with this, just let me say that we are waiting for the processing so we (GLD) can be a BCM site sponsor and when that process is complete, we can establish a dialog with regard to your comments. We'll continue this discussion in the proper format.

here greg you wanna see some comments just look at this thread.

http://brewcitymuscle.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30485

[Smokey1226]

I do not wish to hijack Chad's thread with this,

I have no problem using the thread!

I just wish someone had the answers to my starting questions!?!?!

[Car Guy]

Well I think Greg did a good job of answering the general curiosity but beyond that I don't think you'll get any further experienced advice. Simply because what you’re asking about isn't something that most (if any) people deal with or have dealt with.....

You might be paving your own road in this one.....:thumbsup

[Smokey1226]

Guess im just gunna have to fly down to Flordia or Kentucky and check those tracks out.

[Syclone0044]

You could go down to North Carolina and check out the new 4 lane dragstrip that just opened. This Saturday is the Open House :D

http://www.lowesmotorspeedway.com/dragway/news/534221.html

http://www.foleylewisracing.com/images/001.jpg

http://www.foleylewisracing.com/images/002.jpg