Official Statement - Gateway Closes

[Bobby Bennett]

http://competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/15967-gateway-officially-ceases-all-operations

 

[.]

That sucks. I guess I should have made a trip there while I had the chance.

 

[rick]

It stinks, I will miss my annual trip over to gateway

 

[Von Halen]

Wow. I went to many AHRA events there. What a bummer.

 

[mw6789]

I wonder if this is like the Memphis deal where the circle track brought down the whole deal. It really sucks.

 

[sparky]

It really sucks ! I have been attending events there since the 70's as a kid , I saw Evil Kneivel jump there , Car Craft Street Machine Nationals there, early Pro mod stuff . Just plain sad ,

 

[tb]

I wonder if this is like the Memphis deal where the circle track brought down the whole deal. It really sucks.

Yes, Just like Memphis. The idiots that are Dover only worried about the oval track, while the drag strip made them money as was treated as the ugly stepchild.

All is not lost as the St. Louis post had a article about the closing and management said that they have two interested parties in purchasing the track.

Reading a NASCAR site, it was stated that some of the shareholders of Dover want them to close Dover Downs and sell the two cup races they have. I am having a party when that happens

 

[flapjack]

I hope they bring the drag strip back. I never had a chance to go, even when I was in Rolla, MO. Stupid grad school.

 

[NYNitro86]

and WJ has the honor of the Final PS win there.

 

[jackass]

Reading a NASCAR site, it was stated that some of the shareholders of Dover want them to close Dover Downs and sell the two cup races they have. I am having a party when that happens

Yep those are the people that own stock in the company for its Horse racing ventures... and for the Casino on that property...

the oval track at Gateway was horrible... low crowd attendance and poor racing... surface was so bad they sprayed VHT in the corners for grip. check out videos of the oval races and you can see the areas sprayed...lol

Shame that drag strip will be gone...


Billy

 

[.]

A great write-up from Bret Kepner.
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[mw6789]

Kepner's article pretty well explains it. I heard rumors that a local racer (who I know and have not run into lately to confirm the situation) made a substantial offer to buy just the drag strip at Memphis. He was told it was buy all or none. And as is the situation at Gateway, I was also told the property tax bill was pretty exorbinant at Memphis. Wonder if any of these "genuis politicians" ever stop to think of all the tax revenue they lose from other sources when these facilites close. Lots and lots of hamburger taxes, hotel taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes etc. As I see on someone's postings on here, "the empty seat buys no hot dog". As for the NASCAR deal, it appears to me that the list of disappointments with no "Cup " date is a long one. They also seem to be battling the empty seat deal, and their lesser series have suffered from poor attendance for a long time. With the US economy in the dumper (and probably staying there for a while), things probably wont change in the near future. Sad situation all the way around, but life goes on.