Now Bandimere ? (1 Viewer)

[Chili]

Unless I'm misreading or being too optimistic, it sounds like the family has been scouting out locations for the next Bandimere Speedway. It appears that the family are realists and rather than digging their heels into the ground and fighting an unwinnable fight, they are going to treat it like a business transaction - take the money, invest it somewhere else. Just my impression from what was stated above.

It sounds like this is how the current drag strip came to be. I did not know there was a drag strip in Denver before - when did that operate until?

This was the first and only site for Bandimere. Originally they had a deal in place to the north in Arvada but got some pushback and went to Morrison. They owned Bandimere Auto Parts in west Denver until the late 70s, early 80’s. I remember my dad hanging out there when I was very young but don’t know when they closed. There were several other tracks in the Denver area. There was Century 21, Centennial, Continental Divide and Thunder Valley. I’m pretty sure all were gone by the mid 70’s except for Thunder Valley which closed in I think 1977 or 78. I spent a lot of time at those tracks because my dad raced Stock Eliminator but I was too young to remember much about them.

 

[BaldyLochs]

The Denver Broncos are looking for a new stadium location as well. Maybe Bandimere can partner with Wal-Mart for a multi-purpose facility? Large, ultra-modern NFL convertible roof/ grass field super-stadium, with an events center and stock car/drag race facility as well.
The Gaylord of the Rockies is right near the airport….. Land to expand…. Let’s do this LOL

 

[twostep]

I'm not optimistic about a new, multi-purpose facility. It'd never have the charm Bandimere Raceway has had all these years; Denver itself has done almost a complete political 180 since I lived there 40 years ago and the "new kids on the block" ain't interested in drag racing at all. The cost to build a new facility; you're looking in the tens of millions. Denver isn't a race car town as mentioned earlier although it does support racing - horses and greyhounds. And perhaps the younger Bandimeres have moved on, moved away from racing as their #1 priority and let's face it, John is getting up there in years and (rightfully) may be thinking about easing back on the throttle.

The drag racing community owes a huge thank you to that family for keeping Bandimere in the loop all this time. I'll remember that track for what it was and for all the good times I had there, despite never actually driving a race car through the lights. It's been a hell of a run but unfortunately, all good things eventually come to an end.

 

[Matt Lewis]

The Denver Broncos are looking for a new stadium location as well. Maybe Bandimere can partner with Wal-Mart for a multi-purpose facility? Large, ultra-modern NFL convertible roof/ grass field super-stadium, with an events center and stock car/drag race facility as well.
The Gaylord of the Rockies is right near the airport….. Land to expand…. Let’s do this LOL

Lewis Hamilton is a part owner of the Broncos - maybe he can sell the Walton family (the majority owners) on auto racing and a multi-use facility.

 

[none]

Carl,

John Jr. has "Eased back on the throttle" as you put it, he retired quite a while back. He still advises but Tami, Johnna, Sporty (John III) and Larry Crispe have been running the show for a while now. A lot of their kids are involved at some level as well.

Alan

 

[Marchboom]

If Bandimere goes away that will put a crimp in the Western Swing. With the cost of travel how many east coast teams will go west for just 2 races? And what is the future of Pacific Raceway?

 

[twostep]

Carl,

John Jr. has "Eased back on the throttle" as you put it, he retired quite a while back. He still advises but Tami, Johnna, Sporty (John III) and Larry Crispe have been running the show for a while now. A lot of their kids are involved at some level as well.

Alan

Thanks for bringing me up to speed. I hope they push forward but no one knows better than the Bandimere family the difficulties they'll face. I wish them the best and we all thank them for the 65 years. I fondly remember taking the family to a fuel altered meet there in the mid 70s....taking my Dad to his first drag race, the Mile-High nationals....watching the drama unfold as Eddie Hill (neighbor of mine at the time) faced Gary Beck in the final round of TF...recall seeing Buddy Ingersoll's incredible Pro Stock Grand National for the first time....meeting and talking to Kenny Bernstein out in the parking lot...and the sound of the engines echoing off the mountain.

I'll miss it. We all will.

 

[qualified17th]

And what is the future of Pacific Raceway?

I know the owner said he refused an offer from someone to buy the place, so it's there for the time being at least. But with the way that area is growing, seems like they're on borrowed time too. I would be surprised if that place is still there in 10-15 years, but I'd love to be wrong there.

If Bandimere goes away that will put a crimp in the Western Swing. With the cost of travel how many east coast teams will go west for just 2 races?

That's what I'm wondering about too. Moving a Las Vegas or Pomona date to the summer to replace Denver's slot in the swing doesn't seem like a good long-term solution just because of the heat. And there aren't any other west coast tracks I can think of that could realistically host a national event at that time of year. Could they maybe just move Sonoma and Seattle to different dates and do away with the western swing entirely, and shuffle the schedule around to put some other races in those mid-summer dates? Maybe go to Sonoma a week before/after Pomona and Las Vegas in the spring, and hit Seattle in the fall before Las Vegas and Pomona, or vice versa. May not be possible because of weather (especially with Seattle, never been there, not sure what it's like up there in the spring or fall), just spitballing ideas here.

 

[Chili]

I know the owner said he refused an offer from someone to buy the place, so it's there for the time being at least. But with the way that area is growing, seems like they're on borrowed time too. I would be surprised if that place is still there in 10-15 years, but I'd love to be wrong there.


That's what I'm wondering about too. Moving a Las Vegas or Pomona date to the summer to replace Denver's slot in the swing doesn't seem like a good long-term solution just because of the heat. And there aren't any other west coast tracks I can think of that could realistically host a national event at that time of year. Could they maybe just move Sonoma and Seattle to different dates and do away with the western swing entirely, and shuffle the schedule around to put some other races in those mid-summer dates? Maybe go to Sonoma a week before/after Pomona and Las Vegas in the spring, and hit Seattle in the fall before Las Vegas and Pomona, or vice versa. May not be possible because of weather (especially with Seattle, never been there, not sure what it's like up there in the spring or fall), just spitballing ideas here.

Although it will never happen, I wish NHRA would do a night race in Vegas during the summer. It’s still real hot even at night but open the gates at 8pm, first round at midnight. Finish eliminations at 5am. Air the entire race live on Fox. The racers would hate it and maybe the fans wouldn’t go, but I sure would!

 

[qualified17th]

Although it will never happen, I wish NHRA would do a night race in Vegas during the summer. It’s still real hot even at night but open the gates at 8pm, first round at midnight. Finish eliminations at 5am. Air the entire race live on Fox. The racers would hate it and maybe the fans wouldn’t go, but I sure would!

So let's see, that would put the TV broadcast on from 3am to 8am... man those ratings would be through the roof!

But in all seriousness, I'd love to see them try a night race again. I know I've heard "well we did it once and attendance was low" or whatever, but if the last few years have taught us anything, it's that just because something didn't work 25 years ago doesn't mean it isn't worth trying now. And the 4 wide format would be perfect for it, given how you can knock out eliminations in 3-4 hours instead of 5-6. Obviously people wanna enjoy Vegas during the night hours, so let's hypothetically do it at Charlotte as a way to make the two 4 wide races feel unique from each other. Maybe don't wait until midnight to start, but you could start round 1 at 7pm and finish at a decent hour. 3 qualifying sessions on Friday at 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm, 1 more session Saturday at noon, then race at 7pm.

Again, just some ideas from one guy's head here, nothing more.

 

[Chili]

So let's see, that would put the TV broadcast on from 3am to 8am... man those ratings would be through the roof!

But in all seriousness, I'd love to see them try a night race again. I know I've heard "well we did it once and attendance was low" or whatever, but if the last few years have taught us anything, it's that just because something didn't work 25 years ago doesn't mean it isn't worth trying now. And the 4 wide format would be perfect for it, given how you can knock out eliminations in 3-4 hours instead of 5-6. Obviously people wanna enjoy Vegas during the night hours, so let's hypothetically do it at Charlotte as a way to make the two 4 wide races feel unique from each other. Maybe don't wait until midnight to start, but you could start round 1 at 7pm and finish at a decent hour. 3 qualifying sessions on Friday at 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm, 1 more session Saturday at noon, then race at 7pm.

Again, just some ideas from one guy's head here, nothing more.

I was thinking more Vegas as a Western swing replacement. Couldn’t run it during the day. Way too hot. There would be very few fans. I believe it would be rate higher than anything else on at that current time slot. The F1 race in Vegas has a local 10 or 11pm start time. I’m down for any night race. Charlotte works for me too.
The first decade of the Mile High Nationals ran the finals on Saturday night. I think the first Sunday finals was 1985. My most memorable Mile High race was 1990. Rained all day on Friday and Saturday. Ran qualifying sessions on Sunday and ran the finals Monday starting somewhere around 5pm and ending close to 11pm.

 

[Bruno]

I have been going and/or racing at Bandimere since moving here in 1979. What a great facility and crew. Always has been a pleasure to race there and be a small part of it. That being said, I have serious doubts about a new facility. It is no secret that pro racers do not like racing on the mountain whether they admit it publicly or not. Different motors, lackluster performance (compared to sea level). In a way, it has been like the 4 wide. Not conducive to real performance but a great place and great facility. If a new facility was to be built can it actually be profitable without a national event? I could see that NHRA would not be crushed if they don't have to race in the altitude. With 1,700 registered racers at Bandimere I don't know what happens to all of us. I certainly hope for a rebuild but I am not holding my breath. Please prove me wrong!

 

[RebilasPhoto]

I was thinking more Vegas as a Western swing replacement. Couldn’t run it during the day. Way too hot. There would be very few fans. I believe it would be rate higher than anything else on at that current time slot. The F1 race in Vegas has a local 10 or 11pm start time. I’m down for any night race. Charlotte works for me too.
The first decade of the Mile High Nationals ran the finals on Saturday night. I think the first Sunday finals was 1985. My most memorable Mile High race was 1990. Rained all day on Friday and Saturday. Ran qualifying sessions on Sunday and ran the finals Monday starting somewhere around 5pm and ending close to 11pm.

I think what makes the most sense (with current national event tracks) is to add Topeka to the Western swing. Topeka currently in mid August so moving it to July wouldn't be much of a change. Might actually be a little cooler then.

 

[Randy]

With Sonoma hosting practically nothing any more I wonder how long they can exist.

2023 Schedule:

Event Calendar

Sonoma Raceway is a world-class NASCAR and NHRA racetrack and year-round multipurpose event facility on more than 1,600 acres just north of San Francisco.

www.sonomaraceway.com

 

[5150 mechanic]

I've wondered the same thing. Sonoma's year should be packed. Hell yeah I'm sure developers can't wait.

 

[65 Goatboy]

Here's my thoughts. Tracks closing is inevitable. The majority of dragstrips open 50 years ago are now closed, that's just how it works. It only makes sense that most dragstrips open today will be gone in 50 years. It shouldn't be as much of a problem as it is. The ridiculous part to me is how NHRA just refuses to go anywhere new to replace these dates. It's now been a full decade since NHRA last added a new track to the tour (Epping in 2013). NASCAR has had multiple tracks close in the last decade, but they still have 38 races because they go to new places to fill that void. I guess we're just gonna keep losing more and more dates until the Camping World Series only races 10 times a year. Plenty of tracks out there that could host the tour with some golf-tournament style temporary seating and a few other minor updates. Just frustrating when I see other forms of racing hold races in all sorts of different places no one would have thought possible, meanwhile here we are saying "welp, there goes Bandimere, guess we're down to 20 races a year now"

Chicago is not new but it's back this year.

 

[qualified17th]

With Sonoma hosting practically nothing any more I wonder how long they can exist.

2023 Schedule:

Event Calendar

Sonoma Raceway is a world-class NASCAR and NHRA racetrack and year-round multipurpose event facility on more than 1,600 acres just north of San Francisco.

www.sonomaraceway.com

No different than Charlotte. They host the 2 national events, 1 big street car takeover race in the summer, and then the place is dormant for 49 weeks a year. For some reason SMI doesn't like to use their dragstrips for drag racing, and I've never figured out why

 

[mick]

why doesn't sonoma host a LODRS event? or maybe they will pickup the races previously held in chandler?
also noticed, like spence said, no LODRS race at charlotte, or for that matter bristol either, but vegas has them. go figure.
it's not the first time a nat. event track has said no to a divisional race, whether regional or not.

 

[jgrigz]

There was talk of Tulsa expanding and holding a national event at one point. Anyone have any information on that?

 

[Ramjet]

Although it will never happen, I wish NHRA would do a night race in Vegas during the summer. It’s still real hot even at night but open the gates at 8pm, first round at midnight. Finish eliminations at 5am. Air the entire race live on Fox. The racers would hate it and maybe the fans wouldn’t go, but I sure would!

I ran the old track in the late 1960’s and there was only 1 qualifier and by the second round it was still 118* (1:45 AM). All 5 of the lizards that did not pay to be there didn’t seem to care about the races. You d**m near passed out in your fire suit even if you didn’t get in the car until you were next. It would be a disaster financially. Unless they could air condition the stands and ARA could figure out how to put AC on the cars you probably won’t get a full field.