Where would you build your new track?

Go Panthers said:
In the end we both know why Rockingham and Wilkesboro were closed, they were closed to move their dates to tracks that could fit more people in the stands and to new markets for nascar during the fad stages of the sport.

I don't know what shape Rockinham is in, it has to be in better shape than Wilksboro as there has been racing there in the past few years. But i know Wilkesboro will never see racing again, not unless they basically tear it down and rebuild it. It's a crying shame.

All four of those tracks (Mville, Darlington, Wilkesboro,and Rockinham) have personality that a lot of the newer tracks don't have.

I don't remember when 74 was finally finished, i honestly thought it was 4 lanes in 2003.
Click to expand...
74 was mostly four lanes then but still had large stretches of 55 mph, or slower and a lot of stop lights in surrounding small towns. They did finish the bypass around the south side of town a few years before the track closed.

Someone posted photos (last fall? early spring) showing weeds growing up through the racing surface. In mid-spring this year somebody cleaned the place up enough for a wannabe series to run some practice laps. They said they were going to race on it in early fall, but nothing came of it. I haven't seen or heard about anything being on the track since.

EDITED: Coincidentally, there was a press release three days ago saying the deal to run in October fell through.

http://www.supercupstockcarseries.com/
 
Charlie Spencer said:
74 was mostly four lanes then but still had large stretches of 55 mph, or slower and a lot of stop lights in surrounding small towns. They did finish the bypass around the south side of town a few years before the track closed.

Someone posted photos (last fall? early spring) showing weeds growing up through the racing surface. In mid-spring this year somebody cleaned the place up enough for a wannabe series to run some practice laps. They said they were going to race on it in early fall, but nothing came of it. I haven't seen or heard about anything being on the track since.
Click to expand...

Such a shame, those tracks are what made the sport.

Because of this conversation I googled nascar tracks and wiki, to get an idea of how many short tracks nascar races on.

I found 2 things interesting, nascar really only races on 3 short tracks now, Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond. All the rest are a mile or larger.

The other thing...Bristol literally has twice as many seats as Talladega...i never would have guessed that ha.
 
Go Panthers said:
In the end we both know why Rockingham and Wilkesboro were closed, they were closed to move their dates to tracks that could fit more people in the stands and to new markets for nascar during the fad stages of the sport.

I don't know what shape Rockinham is in, it has to be in better shape than Wilksboro as there has been racing there in the past few years. But i know Wilkesboro will never see racing again, not unless they basically tear it down and rebuild it. It's a crying shame.

All four of those tracks (Mville, Darlington, Wilkesboro,and Rockinham) have personality that a lot of the newer tracks don't have.

I don't remember when 74 was finally finished, i honestly thought it was 4 lanes in 2003.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I went to the last race at Rockingham and it was not 4 laned.

But there were a pot full of vendors there, not many of the hailer vendors, but the guys with the tents. I bought a leather BUD #8 Jr. jacket for my wife for $35.00.

Jr #8 Bud jacket.jpg
 
Man I've put too much thought into this when I should have been working. Oh well.

For the track type I'd do something unique. 1 mile quad oval, turns 3&4 flat banked at 12 degrees, 1&2 variable from 14 to 18 degrees. All concrete. I'd rake the grandstands pretty steep and have multiple tiers so they take up less area. That would allow a partial roof to be built over them to keep the rain out. Ideally I'd extend the canopy over the track itself so the race could run rain or shine, but that might take columns that would block views. Covering the infield is unrealistic. The canopy also lets the facility use the grandstands and infield as a concert venue.

Now, I wouldn't just surround the track with grandstands and suites. I'd take a cue from Dover and Kansas and build a hotel/casino combo overlooking the backstretch going into 3. Also along the backstretch I'd build something else unique, car dealerships. These would be much more than your local used car lot, these would be upscale and multi-story so that they would overlook the track and could offer suites and/or seating for race days. These would be the flagship Toyota, Chevy and Ford dealerships for the entire region (sorry Dodge). A one-stop experience that people will drive out of their way to get to, kind of the same model as an outlet mall. During races they would serve as highly visible symbols of manufacturer commitment to the sport (and great advertising), while the rest of the year they would be significant draws to the track to support it and the surrounding area. As a bonus, you could let customers take their test drive on the track, if the regulators would allow it.

As for the surrounding area, of course there will have to be tailgating and camping lots. But like I said above I'd also build out the area with more permanent uses like Kansas speedway did. That means restaurants, shopping, entertainment, hotels and residential development. All would be supported by traffic from the casino and dealerships when the race track isn't hosting an event. Eventually this will draw an office tenant to the area for the weekday traffic and then you're cooking with gas. All of this diversifies the track finances from the ups and downs of NASCAR attendance while simultaneously embedding the track and NASCAR within the community. That has worked for other sports stadiums and it can work for NASCAR too.

As far as where to put it? All modern tracks have got to be within day-trip distance of a major metro area above 1 million people, just as a backup in case the hardcore travelling/camping fans don't show. But beyond that there's a lot of possibilities. It's hard to look at a map or graph and know which areas are really into racing. But we do know NASCAR's audience skews blue-collar, rural, and red state. Also, it doesn't hurt to be in a metro that lacks one or more major sports teams as that means less competition for entertainment dollars. Oh and relatively crappy public transit, because we're selling car culture here not train culture. With all that in mind, here would be my top picks:

1. Houston
2. Salt Lake City
3. Youngstown - Cleveland - Pittsburg corridor
4. New Orleans
5. Portland - Seattle corridor
6. St. Louis
7. Memphis or Nashville (can't have both)
8. Canada
9. Minnesota (also Canada)
 
Charlie Spencer said:
74 was mostly four lanes then but still had large stretches of 55 mph, or slower and a lot of stop lights in surrounding small towns. They did finish the bypass around the south side of town a few years before the track closed.

Someone posted photos (last fall? early spring) showing weeds growing up through the racing surface. In mid-spring this year somebody cleaned the place up enough for a wannabe series to run some practice laps. They said they were going to race on it in early fall, but nothing came of it. I haven't seen or heard about anything being on the track since.

EDITED: Coincidentally, there was a press release three days ago saying the deal to run in October fell through.

http://www.supercupstockcarseries.com/
Click to expand...

I might detour and go to Rockingham on Sunday. If I go to Charlotte on Saturday, that is.
 
I would just like any kind of track near me on Long Island that hosts Cup, X, or Trucks.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
You better get spring dates for Houston or New Orleans, before hurricane season starts to peak in August.
Click to expand...

Nah Hurricane season wouldn't be a problem. Spring date would be though. Houston floods every April and May. I say put a track in South Texas. Possibly off of 37 between San Antonio and corpus Christi. I like the idea of a banked Pocono style track.
 
Acs said:
1. Houston
2. Salt Lake City
Click to expand...
Nice. I can visualize the video of a little old lady pulling out to road test a Focus or something, and wind up blowing the doors off JJ, Harvick, and K Busch amid Radioactive-like bleeped out chatter about "Who the (bleep) is wheelin' that (bleep bleep) brown Ford that just blew by me?"

BTW, Texas World Speedway is about an hour from Houston, or at least it was. Been demolished recently by developers. I've left some blood and bent parts there, but they were never able to draw a crowd for Nascar or Indy cars. And Salt Lake City has Miller Motorsport Park, a new roadracing facility, which went bust in a hurry and recently changed hands.
 
LewTheShoe said:
BTW, Texas World Speedway is about an hour from Houston, or at least it was. Been demolished recently by developers. I've left some blood and bent parts there, but they were never able to draw a crowd for Nascar or Indy cars. And Salt Lake City has Miller Motorsport Park, a new roadracing facility, which went bust in a hurry and recently changed hands.
Click to expand...
So in your experience, investing in a new track is folly? It seems like tracks are closing even though they are in a good market area?
 
Go Panthers said:
Agree with that, for the type of money it would now cost to build a new one, i would think these things would need to generate money year round.
Click to expand...

You never know what Bruton Smith may do but I think we have seen our last Cup ready facility built for at least another 20 years or so and maybe for good given the cost and interest.

If money was not an object I think it would be great to see tracks built that reflect the current interest in the series. I think tracks with a max capacity of 45-60K would be wonderful as instead of building tracks to accommodate a horde of people they could be constructed to give the fans great sight lines and the amenities they want.
 
Go Panthers said:
Such a shame, those tracks are what made the sport.

Because of this conversation I googled nascar tracks and wiki, to get an idea of how many short tracks nascar races on.

I found 2 things interesting, nascar really only races on 3 short tracks now, Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond. All the rest are a mile or larger.

The other thing...Bristol literally has twice as many seats as Talladega...i never would have guessed that ha.
Click to expand...

Talladega used to have around 150K seats but scuttled about half of them if memory serves.
 
Team Penske said:
So in your experience, investing in a new track is folly? It seems like tracks are closing even though they are in a good market area?
Click to expand...

Large areas like Atlanta and Los Angeles couldn't drum up enough interest to keep 2 dates and tracks like Pocono, Dover, MIS, New Hampshire and RIchmond don't do that well so I can't see anyone having the appetite to finance a cup ready track. Besides Nascar is over saturated with product and has no more room to add additional race dates.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I thought all this was just fantasy and speculation. I don't think any serious investor would sink money into a new race track these days.
Click to expand...

The only person I could see nutty enough to build a new track would be Bruton as he has more money than God and he will spend millions to spite you if you rub him the wrong way. Even with money being cheap IDK why a person would build a cup facility on spec as the demand is not present.
 
With memories of the countless hours I spent as a kid building, and then tearing down, various configured slot-car tracks, how about a figure-8 super speedway, say, about 2 miles in length.

figure8-circuit.jpg


so much for just making left-hand turns . . .
 
pjmolo said:
With memories of the countless hours I spent as a kid building, and then tearing down, various configured slot-car tracks, how about a figure-8 super speedway, say, about 2 miles in length.

View attachment 20642

so much for just making left-hand turns . . .
Click to expand...
Bank the heck out of the narrow end, but flatter at the fat end.

Which direction to the run? Do they run the main straightaway (not the one with the bridge) from left to right or right to left? Move the S/F line more toward the end of that straight.

Which side are the pits on?
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Bank the heck out of the narrow end, but flatter at the fat end.

Which direction to the run? Do they run the main straightaway (not the one with the bridge) from left to right or right to left? Move the S/F line more toward the end of that straight.

Which side are the pits on?
Click to expand...

I pictured them running left to right down the straightaway that goes under the bridge with the pits on the left (top) side of that same straightaway.

Then again with the pits in that location maybe they should run it in the other direction to allow for better entry to, and exit from, pit road.
 
I'd build a .45 mile short track where the King Dome used to be in Seattle enclosed with ventilation where the pits are right below the stands within sight lines on the outside of the track 1.5 grooves bump and grind 400 laps any time of year
 
How about right in my backyard. Hold on a minute, I need to go out back and check for space.........................................................................................................................

Never mind, It would seem I only have enough room for 2 garage stalls.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom