Wild Horse Pass to be Redeveloped. Looks like the end is here. (1 Viewer)

Last I knew of, yes, but they will not sell it for motorsports use.
Angus and Price are U.S. manufactures of Nitromethane, but will only sell it for Medical and Cosmetic use. The trick is to convence them that you need 125,000 gallons a year to make after shave lotion or medical air freshener. The other problem is medical grade would be astronomical s far as cost goes. There is also nitro from Mexico and India that is made for Agricultural use. Maybe they will believe that NHRA needs 125,000 gallons for turf renewal in the Pits and the space between the stands and the track.
 
I love racing, the wife loves racing, we went to many events a year, we can walk to National Trails, again we LOVE racing, some weekends/weeknights the noise gets old.
Now I would never want to close down the track, being it has been there longer than we have been here. We moved here knowing this. It is actually a lot quieter than when they ran national events there. Nitro noise carries a long way.
 
I spent a lot of my childhood years, living just a little over a quarter mile south of Motor City Dragway; from late 60’s to when it boarded up. Still the glory years I guess. We knew a hidden back path through the fields/woods to sneak in by the shut down area. I think of all the friggin years and days we went there - including the biggest marquee events- I seriously don’t think we ever entered through the front gates or paid one cent. LOL. Yes the noise was a big deal though. Could listen to the track PA from our back porch if someone wasn’t making a pass. But around our house, if we weren't at the track, we would debate about what type of cars were running based on the sound. And actually My Dad CHOSE the house based on the proximity to the track!
 
I love racing, the wife loves racing, we went to many events a year, we can walk to National Trails, again we LOVE racing, some weekends/weeknights the noise gets old.
Now I would never want to close down the track, being it has been there longer than we have been here. We moved here knowing this. It is actually a lot quieter than when they ran national events there. Nitro noise carries a long way.
I bet it’s awesome to live that close to a track! How do your neighbors like the noise?
 
I bet it’s awesome to live that close to a track! How do your neighbors like the noise?


LOL..........the block I live on has 2 buildings my house and the fire department. If it is not race cars it is fire trucks. Never really heard anyone complain about the noise from the track. They have built some expensive homes north of the track, I do not know what they're feelings are. Oh and we are in the approach for Port Columbus airport..
 
I have been wanting to share my thoughts since the news came out but I have been busy and every time I type I feel like I cant put the words to what I feel. Ive thought long and hard about what this news brings I feel like I have already been through the five stages of grief even though not a single bulldozer has been setup yet. I may not have been going as long as Cliff or Alan or many others but I have spent half of my life reguarly going to Firebird and walking those pits and sitting in those stands and eating greasy nachos and parking in the mud and pissing in those troughs. Even 20 years later I can still remember the first drag race of any kind I went to, it was one of the jets vs funny car shows that my boy scout pack leader took us to (he was a car guy which was awesome) I saw my sister's boyfriend run the friday night drags once or twice and had fun. And of course I can remember the first time I got a whiff of that sweet sweet nitro and when I heard my first fuel car make a pass, it set the hook.

As selfish as it sounds but to be faced with the fact of not having the track I love around anymore makes me sad and angry. Sad because I feel like it is my home in a sense, it is one of the places that I am happiest. It is a place that I get to see friends who I only get to see once or twice a year. As morbid as it sounds I actually have it listed in my will that my ashes are to be scattered there on the track when I pass.

I am also mad because I feel like the place I love is possibly being thrown away. Its not like the track hemorrhages money or isnt profitable, it is possibly being thrown away for greener pastures. I am mad because the people possibly throwing the place I love away less than a year ago threw away my job without the courtesy of a face to face explanation or even a phone call, only a form letter and impersonal email. I am mad because a lot of my co-workers, good people, were let go only to be re-hired less than six weeks later without their senority, benefits or even full-time hours. I am mad because at the end of the day it all comes down to money, thats all my favorite place comes down to is the prospect of more money.

After talking to Alan last week at another racetrack he made a good point to bring it all into prespective. "Racetracks have come and gone and Firebird has been around for nearly 40 years, its been a good run but all good things must come to an end at some point". "And who knows we've heard rumors for years, it may not happen" While it will not hurt any less if the wrecking ball comes he does make a good point. His words also make me realize that even if the track goes away I still have all my memories of the place and that will never be taken away. I still have the friends I've made there and I still have the sport I love. No matter what happens I will still go to races and be there bright and early on a Friday morning and I will still stand at the ropes and smell my nitro and watch the fastest accelerating vehicles in the world blast off. Whether its at Firebird or not, that will never be taken away.
 
Amen brother. That is exactly how I feel. When I'm at the drags, that is the best place to be. I have put a lot of miles just walking thru the pits & seeing the cars. Alan is right, tracks come & go & Wild Horse had a long run. I have to think we still have Tucson and that is a good track. I have been thru this so many times. San Fernando, Lions, OCIR, etc in SoCalif. The old Tucson track and then Speedworld, which I really loved. I have photos from all those places & I can look at them and "be there", for a little while, anyway. I do hope I can go there at least once more.

Do you remember when Firebird used to have parking on the other side of the lake (close to I-10) and you could walk around the lake on a path. Always a drunk who would fall into the lake..... One year they had Winston buses that took us to the parking area. Ah yes....
 
Alan is right, tracks have come and gone since the beginning of the sport. The brutal reality however, is, that now tracks are going but I doubt you'll hear about too many new ones being built, for reasons everyone here knows about. So that's the scary part.
 
If a new track is built, would it be 1/4 mile or 1/8 mile? Cost would be the factor here. Thinking of Xtreme Raceway in Texas. They are in the Dallas - Ft Worth area & basically took the place of 2 well known 1/8 mile tracks that closed. You can go onto their web site & see photos of the build. I dunno, just thinking out loud.

 
The only way I could see a track survive is, Build it out in the middle of nowhere. Well until the developers decide to build next to it.
 
PBIR is out in the middle of nowhere, it's neighbors are Pratt & Whitney who test jet engines every day making lots of noise, an FBO airport and an industrial park where Amazon is supposedly going to build. As for now there's no residential housing in the area as it's in the middle of swampland. Ain't going away soon.
 
PBIR is out in the middle of nowhere, it's neighbors are Pratt & Whitney who test jet engines every day making lots of noise, an FBO airport and an industrial park where Amazon is supposedly going to build. As for now there's no residential housing in the area as it's in the middle of swampland. Ain't going away soon.
Yup, walk up on the berm & you'll find gators. :)
 
I've seen many Gators at PBIR. Once a guy threw a chicken he got at the supermarket to a Gator and I've never seen anything like it, the Gator went crazy eating the chicken in just a few seconds. Fun entertainment during oil-downs. Maybe I'll bring a chicken to the PRO testing next month...
 
I have been wanting to share my thoughts since the news came out but I have been busy and every time I type I feel like I cant put the words to what I feel. Ive thought long and hard about what this news brings I feel like I have already been through the five stages of grief even though not a single bulldozer has been setup yet. I may not have been going as long as Cliff or Alan or many others but I have spent half of my life reguarly going to Firebird and walking those pits and sitting in those stands and eating greasy nachos and parking in the mud and pissing in those troughs. Even 20 years later I can still remember the first drag race of any kind I went to, it was one of the jets vs funny car shows that my boy scout pack leader took us to (he was a car guy which was awesome) I saw my sister's boyfriend run the friday night drags once or twice and had fun. And of course I can remember the first time I got a whiff of that sweet sweet nitro and when I heard my first fuel car make a pass, it set the hook.

As selfish as it sounds but to be faced with the fact of not having the track I love around anymore makes me sad and angry. Sad because I feel like it is my home in a sense, it is one of the places that I am happiest. It is a place that I get to see friends who I only get to see once or twice a year. As morbid as it sounds I actually have it listed in my will that my ashes are to be scattered there on the track when I pass.

I am also mad because I feel like the place I love is possibly being thrown away. Its not like the track hemorrhages money or isnt profitable, it is possibly being thrown away for greener pastures. I am mad because the people possibly throwing the place I love away less than a year ago threw away my job without the courtesy of a face to face explanation or even a phone call, only a form letter and impersonal email. I am mad because a lot of my co-workers, good people, were let go only to be re-hired less than six weeks later without their senority, benefits or even full-time hours. I am mad because at the end of the day it all comes down to money, thats all my favorite place comes down to is the prospect of more money.

After talking to Alan last week at another racetrack he made a good point to bring it all into prespective. "Racetracks have come and gone and Firebird has been around for nearly 40 years, its been a good run but all good things must come to an end at some point". "And who knows we've heard rumors for years, it may not happen" While it will not hurt any less if the wrecking ball comes he does make a good point. His words also make me realize that even if the track goes away I still have all my memories of the place and that will never be taken away. I still have the friends I've made there and I still have the sport I love. No matter what happens I will still go to races and be there bright and early on a Friday morning and I will still stand at the ropes and smell my nitro and watch the fastest accelerating vehicles in the world blast off. Whether its at Firebird or not, that will never be taken away.
i appreciate your heartfelt comments Zed. everyone on this forum loves drag racing and we all are watching nervously as we loose tracks and teams. i was upset when englistown closed as it was the first rack i went to so many yrs ago! it was less than an hr drive for me. now maple grove is in danger. things change and its hard to accept the loss of things we value. the good news is there are still many great drag strips where we can go and walk the pits smell nitro and watch great racing
 
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