Official: Firebird International Raceway closing april 2013

[Jeff Lee]

That's the plan!

[aspen7709]

Just got E-mail from Stepahanie at Firebird. The National WILL be held Feb 22-24 2013. This will be the last one in the current facility til further notice. I have also heard 2 different rumors on the tracks future. One being leveled and turned into a Grand Hotel and resort to compliment the casino. The other is that the tribe may renovate it and reopen it as their own. (They want ALL the revenue not just lease money). More updates to follow as I get them. My work place is a major program sponsor so they want us in the loop. I got the national event poster but I cant resize it to post it yet.

Kenny Newsome 7709 ?/sa stock eliminator

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lee

I was in the area of Luke Air Force Base today and there's a SCCA track that I've heard about but have never seen so I decided to drive by it. It's Arizona Motorsports Park @ 152nd Avenue & Camelback in Litchfield Park. Damn impressive track! They are at the tail-end of LAFB (for those that don't know, worlds largest Air Force fighter training base) runway. Plans take off and fly directly over this SCCA track. It was shut down in litigation for two years due to noise complaints! There is a large subdivision (Palm Valley) across the street; also under the flight path of F-16's! From what I understand, the track has a strictly enforced WOT DB level of 94 that is enforced. I was told a Ferrari or Lamborghini with stock exhaust would not pass. Gates open at 8 and no racing allowed until 9:00 A.M and racing stops at 4:00 P.M. to appease the neighbors.
I'm going to have to give the track a whirl with my SVT Focus someday soon. I've never done this & sounds like a fun way to kill 4 tires and 8 brake pads!

Back to the architects looking at a track, there's definitely a lot of cars in the Valley and surrounding states. If you drive to California there's a little spit of a town called Dateland on I-8. I'm told there is a Marine reserve field in the area which is only used for emergency landings (Marines use Yuma, AZ for fighter training). Every time I drive by there I think it would be a great spot for a drag strip to serve both southern California and Arizona. Just a thought...

A few years ago, a group of developers filed a lawsuit requesting to be allowed to develop land at the Gila Bend firing range and additional land near Luke AFB.

The government refused and they filed a lawsuit. The government won the case and the state and the AG have supported the limits to developments in the area. The US Air Force testified that if homes were built, the next thing it would happen was the home owners would request closure of the base due to noise.

The same issues that happen to many racetracks; people build and purchase homes near airports, military bases and racetracks and then want them close because of noise or traffic.

[GarysZ24]

Wow, this is the same kind of mess that tried (and failed), to mess up Bandimere Speedway in Denver...right around y2k! Fortunately the Bandimeres owned their land, and put up a very credible argument for why the track needed to stay there and in operation after the election ruined their plans for a "World Park" out east of Aurora, so as to enhance Bandimere in Morrison....

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by aspen7709

Just got E-mail from Stepahanie at Firebird. The National WILL be held Feb 22-24 2013. This will be the last one in the current facility til further notice. I have also heard 2 different rumors on the tracks future. One being leveled and turned into a Grand Hotel and resort to compliment the casino. The other is that the tribe may renovate it and reopen it as their own. (They want ALL the revenue not just lease money). More updates to follow as I get them. My work place is a major program sponsor so they want us in the loop. I got the national event poster but I cant resize it to post it yet.

Kenny Newsome 7709 ?/sa stock eliminator

Kenny, can you find out if they're having the divisionals like they had this year, afterwards too? If so, count me in for that....some good news for NHRA buffs is that Rocky Mountain Raceway is back into the fold. However, the track is over 700 miles away, so it'll be a bit of a haul...better than going to Fallon, Nv, or Sonoma, Ca., from Phoenix though...

I wish developers would leave our race tracks alone, or laws would be made that would hinder them from developing land near race tracks and airports...DIA was created after residents kept complaining about Stapleton International Airport as well, and now those flippin' developers are again getting closer and closer with houses and businesses to DIA. However, I think they (Denver) zoned enough surrounding land to keep those developer jerks from becoming next door neighbors....we need to do that here, with our race tracks (like our Phoenix airport has done with allowing only businesses to be close to the airport)!

[BobOrme]

Originally Posted by aspen7709

Just got E-mail from Stepahanie at Firebird. The National WILL be held Feb 22-24 2013. This will be the last one in the current facility til further notice. I have also heard 2 different rumors on the tracks future. One being leveled and turned into a Grand Hotel and resort to compliment the casino. The other is that the tribe may renovate it and reopen it as their own. (They want ALL the revenue not just lease money). More updates to follow as I get them. My work place is a major program sponsor so they want us in the loop. I got the national event poster but I cant resize it to post it yet.

Kenny Newsome 7709 ?/sa stock eliminator

The tribe taking over the track and running it as their own would be an interesting twist and something I'd think the tribe has taken or should take into consideration. The drag strip is not the only revenue source on that large piece of property. Firebird Lake is used for boat racing and Bondurant has their road course racing school there too. I think hotel/casino expansion could be accomplished on existing tribal land close to the current casino without leveling or closing any of the racing facilities.

There are always risks involved when building and operating a business on leased land. I know of three national event drag strips that are on leased land - Firebird, Pomona and Heartland Park Topeka. Heartland Park is probably the safest of the three as far as longevity of use is concerned. The land is owned by the city of Topeka and they know how much residual revenue is generated by racing through racers and fans spending money in their city. I've read that the Topeka NHRA national event alone injects somewhere around $8 million into the city. The local businesses love that, and the city really likes their cut collected in sales taxes

[BobOrme]

Originally Posted by GarysZ24

I wish developers would leave our race tracks alone, or laws would be made that would hinder them from developing land near race tracks and airports...DIA was created after residents kept complaining about Stapleton International Airport as well, and now those flippin' developers are again getting closer and closer with houses and businesses to DIA. However, I think they (Denver) zoned enough surrounding land to keep those developer jerks from becoming next door neighbors....we need to do that here, with our race tracks (like our Phoenix airport has done with allowing only businesses to be close to the airport)!

Gary, if you haven't been to Bandimere in the last few years, you would be amazed at how many new homes have been built on the other side of the valley south of the Alameda Parkway. It's only a matter of time before some people who buy or rent those homes with a direct view of the drag strip will start trying to change the zoning designation of the Bandimere property. If or when they manage to force the closure of Bandimere, some of the same people will be complaining that they can hear music from Red Rocks.

DIA was inevitable. Stapleton couldn't handle the ever expanding air traffic and had no options for growth. It was better to build a much larger airport and close Stapleton than try to keep it open while still building a much larger airport ala Chicago Midway and O'Hare.

Construction of a NASCAR track with a drag strip next to it (a "new" Bandimere Speedway) close to DIA was stopped by the vote of 184 people in Adams county who were supposedly opposed to the facilities due to more automobile traffic in the area. That was a very small tail that wagged a very large dog.

[Albert Lee]

Does anyone have a factual update on racing in Lake Havasu City, AZ?

Al

[Detroit Bob]

My brother owns a home in Queen Creek Az. I go there each winter in Feb, usually around the time of the National or divisional at Firebird depending how they fall on the calendar. While driving around, I noticed a cattle farmer in area posted a large sign, on the edge of his propery that faced a development. Basically it said "this is a working farm, sometimes it stinks, if you don't like it don't move here". Maybe it's something all race tracks should do.

[Tim Kish]

Originally Posted by Albert Lee

Does anyone have a factual update on racing in Lake Havasu City, AZ?

Al

My grandmother lives in Havasu and continually gives me updates from whats in the paper there. She said the site for the potential track has moved from Sara Park out to the other side of town near the airport. Said that there has been activity in that area with earth moving equipment leveling the site.