Bruton just announced that he will keep Lowes where it's at! (1 Viewer)
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Larry
Nitro Member
Bruton is the proverbial 500 lb. Gorilla !
BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
Very interesting. Denver is next on the list. Same deal - he wants a circle track and a dragway here. Safe to say, the Bandimere & Smith families will be having dinner someday. Stay tuned, folks!
It was obvious this would be the outcome. Developers always make these outlandish claims knowing they will use it to get what they want. I would have loved if he actually moved Charlotte Motor Speedway to a new location with the strip. But he did what he had to do and that is why he is as smart and rich as he is.
Kurt
Kurt
Chris didn't Bandy shelf moving Bandimere because of location? He had better be content where he's at. With Property values in that area, I doubt he could afford what he needs to build on!
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None
Nitro Member
Whatever happened to the roundy round track that went belly up in Colorado Springs? How can the Denver market support two dragstrips and why would anybody support them? Racing at altitude sucks and breaks a lot of parts.
I shouldn't jump to this conclusion, but...... I hope he doesn't buy Bandimere just to close it, and take the Mile High Nationals date somewhere else. That's what somebody did to PIR in Colorado Springs to get that NASCAR date.
As far as real estate costs, anywhere you built in the the Denver area would be cheaper than where Bandimere is now, because you'd have to go 40 or 50 miles east to build a new one.
Tim5636sc
Nitro Member
Tim5636sc
Nitro Member
The Property that has been discussed is located about 4 miles away from DIA (Denver International Airport) which is about 25 miles east of Downtown. About 5 years ago, John Jr. had a great proposal to sell the land to a developer, and move the track out to this property near DIA. The deal was darn near done, but when it went to election in Aurora for the city to pay for the roads leading towards the track, it lost in popular election..52-48%! The current Bandimere speedway is BEAUTIFUL..A great track surface and Larry Crispe and his crew do a great job Prepping the track! But it's on the side of the MOUNTAIN! Density altitude can shift from 7,000'-12,000' within the course of the day!!! A track on the plains would be easier on parts, better air, and would draw more racers from the eastern plains, Kansas, Nebraska, wyoming, and Even New Mexico!!! This facility would be a SUPERTRACK, like LVMS, Chicagoland, St. Louis, and other multi-purpose race MULTI-PLEX'S. If John jr. had a partner like Bruton Smith, I think they would make a great team and create an outstanding, First Class MOTORSPORTS PARK!
BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
The only reason I brought up Colorado is, I've just noticed the few times already that this has been addressed with a "fair amount of seriousness" in the Denver media, both Bruton & Bandimere publicly agree that they need to sit & talk, and they both see opportunity and acknowledge the value of each other. I also understand this is still a few years away. I think Bruton has other projects before this. I for one would hate to see them move off the mountain. But if moving out by the Denver airport meant more space, more seats, more parking, more revenue and more marketing resources.... like I said, the 2 parties definatley should talk. The cities of Denver & Aurora are also slowly showing interest in a deal. So this is far from over in my opinion.
Is the elevation any lower out by the airport?
merc49
Nitro Member
I agree wit ya Paul! If it happens I'd like to be there.
Now, how'd this thread get all hijacked by Mile High speculation?
DIA elevation on FAA nav charts is 5431', versus 5800' at Bandimere. Density altitude in the summer gets high anywhere around here.
jackass
Nitro Member
Said it before .. and will say it again.. it ALL was nothing more than a ploy for better tax incentives for the Lowes Speedway... of all his facilities it had the lowest tax incentives.....
As far as Bandimere....if he gets it.. it WILL be gone....mark my words and the date... SOP for his companies....
i wouldn't make my reservations just yet for September.... some interesting rumors are about to come to light....
Billy
As far as Bandimere....if he gets it.. it WILL be gone....mark my words and the date... SOP for his companies....
i wouldn't make my reservations just yet for September.... some interesting rumors are about to come to light....
Billy
I don't know where I saw it but I saw something about the TBA date going to Richmond and Charlotte getting the October Richmond date.
Let's start with a few basics:
Bruton Smith did not decide to keep Lowe's "where it's at." He has decided to keep Lowe's where it is.
Bandimere Speedway will not be able to continue in its current location indefinitely. Residential encroachment, the need for a much larger piece of ground to park all of the equipment for a National event, and the high expense of bringing more water to the current site have made that clear.
Pike Peak International Raceway did not go broke. It is located less than eighty miles from the Denver Metro area and is in El Paso County, the most populous county in Colorado. It did suffer from the usual indifference to motorpsorts demonstrated by "sports journalists" who bumped any news from the place in favor of breaking stories from the world of grade school gymnastics. NAZICAR bought the track. They froze out the IRL race and then closed PPIR largely as retribution for the previous owner's financial contribution to the opponents of the motorsports facility proposed for the eastern edge of the Denver metropolitan area. It would make a great site for a real stock car race, open wheel, sports cars, and has plenty of room for a National event type dragstrip.
If our Governor wasn't such a dope, he'd meet with NazCrap and inform them that they need to schedule events at the site and open it for other sanctions if they expect to receive a favorable welcome for a (insert telephone company here) Cup facility in the future. If.
Denver will continue to have a National event for a long, long time. Denver is the largest market in the Mountain Time Zone. Granted, the Mountain Time Zone is the least populous among Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. However, the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, along with arena football, soccer, and la crosse, have franchises here. In order to build a regional fan base, the major sports sanctions have all recognized the key role played by the Colorado Front Range, with Denver as the best known population center.
Colorado Springs has a AAA baseball club and Pueblo Motorsports Park, roughly 110 miles from Denver, has a market area comprised of 750,000 people.
Real racers know that the altitude is the same in both lanes.
Cheers,
Ed
Bruton Smith did not decide to keep Lowe's "where it's at." He has decided to keep Lowe's where it is.
Bandimere Speedway will not be able to continue in its current location indefinitely. Residential encroachment, the need for a much larger piece of ground to park all of the equipment for a National event, and the high expense of bringing more water to the current site have made that clear.
Pike Peak International Raceway did not go broke. It is located less than eighty miles from the Denver Metro area and is in El Paso County, the most populous county in Colorado. It did suffer from the usual indifference to motorpsorts demonstrated by "sports journalists" who bumped any news from the place in favor of breaking stories from the world of grade school gymnastics. NAZICAR bought the track. They froze out the IRL race and then closed PPIR largely as retribution for the previous owner's financial contribution to the opponents of the motorsports facility proposed for the eastern edge of the Denver metropolitan area. It would make a great site for a real stock car race, open wheel, sports cars, and has plenty of room for a National event type dragstrip.
If our Governor wasn't such a dope, he'd meet with NazCrap and inform them that they need to schedule events at the site and open it for other sanctions if they expect to receive a favorable welcome for a (insert telephone company here) Cup facility in the future. If.
Denver will continue to have a National event for a long, long time. Denver is the largest market in the Mountain Time Zone. Granted, the Mountain Time Zone is the least populous among Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. However, the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, along with arena football, soccer, and la crosse, have franchises here. In order to build a regional fan base, the major sports sanctions have all recognized the key role played by the Colorado Front Range, with Denver as the best known population center.
Colorado Springs has a AAA baseball club and Pueblo Motorsports Park, roughly 110 miles from Denver, has a market area comprised of 750,000 people.
Real racers know that the altitude is the same in both lanes.
Cheers,
Ed
jackass
Nitro Member
Ed.. i agree with what you wrote.. except for one thing... NASCAR didn't shut out the IRL....
IRL was loosing their rear end there. and ,,since they had a contract with the previous owner.. they went of the option of their long term contract for events... to back out if a new owner for the facility ever came in to place..... according to a couple Robin Miller reports.. the IRL sponsorships don't cover the full purse for evetns.. so they make up the difference form theor money earned at the gate.. problem is Pikes lower than most ticket sales made it so Tony George had to go into his own personal accounts more than he liked.
I believe that the IRL has events at a couple ISC venues now.... plus winter testing at Daytona now.
Billy
IRL was loosing their rear end there. and ,,since they had a contract with the previous owner.. they went of the option of their long term contract for events... to back out if a new owner for the facility ever came in to place..... according to a couple Robin Miller reports.. the IRL sponsorships don't cover the full purse for evetns.. so they make up the difference form theor money earned at the gate.. problem is Pikes lower than most ticket sales made it so Tony George had to go into his own personal accounts more than he liked.
I believe that the IRL has events at a couple ISC venues now.... plus winter testing at Daytona now.
Billy
Bob
Nitro Member
Roger Penske was the man who wanted to build a super speedway out by DIA, and a small group (less than 200) of Adams County residents shot it down. They convinced county commissioners that the track would cause traffic nightmares, and that radio communications at the track during an event would disrupt air traffic control at DIA, both straw-man arguments. Traffic? All they'd have to do is look at the speedway in Kansas City as a model for building the highways to support the facility. Air traffic control? All they had to do was talk to the folks at Forbes Field (across the street from Heartland Park Topeka) or Nellis AFB (across the street from LVMS).
Had Penske been able to build his track, Bandimere was going to join him in the area. ....at least that's what I remember reading in the Rocky Mountain News about the issues.
Make no mistake, Bandi won't be where it is forever, no matter who owns it.
