Race City Rumors/Facts? [Archive] - Beyond.ca - Car Forums

Crymson

11-04-2007, 07:01 PM

This is what I know/have heard from some guys in the know from the kart track.

Race City's lease is with the city until 2019. However, there is a clause that says the city can pull the least 10 years early for the sake of developing the landfill.

They city wants to build some more canal type things through there, even though it isn't exactly the dump expansion it's related do it.

Also, that the current owner/GM, seems to lack the enthusiasm to fight it at all, and all the RM's around Calgary have more or less, flatly refused to accept a motorsports facility.

Toms-SC

11-04-2007, 07:05 PM

Originally posted by Crymson
and all the RM's around Calgary have more or less, flatly refused to accept a motorsports facility.

There was a couple record setting nights this year. I don't know about that.

Crymson

11-04-2007, 07:10 PM

I know the kart guys have been looking around to build another track, and they were getting alot of push-back.

soloracer

11-04-2007, 08:30 PM

The track appears to be much closer to closing now than it ever has. One thing people have to realize is that despite all the bitching and whining people have had regarding the track surface or management it's still the best thing we have going and we have been extremely fortunate to have it. There isn't another city that I know of that you can leave downtown and be on the track in a 1/2 hour. If we lose this track it's almost certain we won't get another one - even in the surrounding area.

I don't know of anyone stepping up to say they want to run the track and I don't doubt that the city wants the land. If there isn't a concentrated effort by people with the resources to make the track work we will lose it. It's not a matter of "if" just a matter of "when".

R!zz0

11-05-2007, 12:51 PM

I guess we will see more people street race. More innocent people will suffer or die :banghead:

I'm sure the city knows what can happen if they close it down.

LilDrunkenSmurf

11-05-2007, 12:54 PM

I'm sure they don't really care. Instead of building a new motorsports facility, they'll just claim to step up police enforcing. That way they make money in fines, and "get the street racers off the streets"

That's just a guess on my part.

BigBadBear

11-05-2007, 01:38 PM

Originally posted by LilDrunkenSmurf
I'm sure they don't really care. Instead of building a new motorsports facility, they'll just claim to step up police enforcing. That way they make money in fines, and "get the street racers off the streets"

That's just a guess on my part.

And a very good guess too.
That is exactly what I would expect the most motorsport-hating city council anywhere to do.
Sadly, the 3 people that have actually taken the time to write or call their alderman or mayor have wasted their time, because bottom line kiddies is that this city hates motorsport.
All of it and anything to do with it.
If it isn't Stampede/Cowboy related or somehow leftover from the Olympics(hello, it was 20 years ago give it a rest), it can just fuck off.
And if any filthy dirty hooligans try using city streets to drive on, watch out!
If you all think the cops are harsh now, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.

sputnik

11-05-2007, 01:41 PM

IMO there is no conspiracy. The city isn't hoping that Race City closes down so that they can collect more fines.

What is most likely happening is Race City is short of money (like they are EVERY year) and the city is taking advantage of the clause in the lease. The owner/director of Race City is probably also thinking this might be a good time to not have to put more money and effort into a losing venture and is letting the city do what they want just so that he can get out of the lease.

The closure of Race City will NOT cause a rampant surge in street racing either.

On a good day there are several dozen people racing down the track at Secret Street.

How many of these people do you think will risk street racing? Perhaps a few, but most wont bother and will just mourn the loss of a place where they could prove how slow their car really is.

LilDrunkenSmurf

11-05-2007, 01:49 PM

Lack of funds? They get $25 per car every friday they run secret street. Then they get the spectator funds, food, etc. That's probably 3k every friday. It's also mostly run by volunteers. Until I see a budget sheet with where all the money is going, I don't think it's a losing venture, I think the effort just isn't there. I could be completely wrong, but I'd rather be proved wrong, than just give in.

sputnik

11-05-2007, 01:59 PM

Originally posted by LilDrunkenSmurf
Lack of funds? They get $25 per car every friday they run secret street. Then they get the spectator funds, food, etc. That's probably 3k every friday. It's also mostly run by volunteers. Until I see a budget sheet with where all the money is going, I don't think it's a losing venture, I think the effort just isn't there. I could be completely wrong, but I'd rather be proved wrong, than just give in.

$3000 for a Friday is chump change.

What do you estimate their lease, taxes and maintenance costs are for the track?

Secret Street is not a money making venture for RC and was more of a break-even way of bringing people out to the track and get them interested in maybe checking out a bigger race event at RC.

They make WAY more money hosting private events and concerts.

Last year they only had 2 IHRA events and a bunch of other crappy races. It is still entertaining but isn't going to make them a ton of money.

Calgary is too high in altitude and has too short of a season to attract any real race circuits required to keep a facility like that open.

Ripper

11-05-2007, 02:01 PM

Crymson = ?

Last I heard (from the kart club who leases the same land as race city)... Race City said they have filed the lease extension for the land. The city of Calgary says they never received the paper work. Race City is claiming its a clerical error made by the city, the matter is being looked into.

LilDrunkenSmurf

11-05-2007, 02:02 PM

I'm not so sure that's the only reason. If they actually put some effort into maintaining the track, they may attract more events. The potholes on the drag strip turn offs are ridiculous, and from what I've heard from some of the drifters, the oval is just as bad. No one but the volunteers put any kind of effort into it. All the money dissapears to somewhere that we don't even see. The only thing I can for sure say they use it for is bills. But how big are these bills? That's why I want to see a budget sheet before I start leaning too much one way or the other.

SinisterProbeGt

11-05-2007, 03:03 PM

Beyond.ca should buy it and manage it.
With the right plan plus ONLINE purchases and video, pictures media etc. you can gather give over the web.

in 2 to 3 years one or many could turn race city into a mecca in our million $$ city. Why not take our Forum one step closer to the track.
I personally would buy track days through here and track results etc.
Anyone else?
mabye find a few backers and take a run at it?

962 kid

11-05-2007, 03:13 PM

Originally posted by sputnik
The closure of Race City will NOT cause a rampant surge in street racing either.

On a good day there are several dozen people racing down the track at Secret Street.

How many of these people do you think will risk street racing? Perhaps a few, but most wont bother and will just mourn the loss of a place where they could prove how slow their car really is.

Have you tried going out to race at SS this years? It's nuts, you might be lucky to get in 3 or 4 runs if you are there for the whole night. One hundred+ cars every night (not always the same cars from week to week also) plus a couple hundred more spectators every single week. That's just secret streets as well, don't forget about the private events, shows, drift meets etc. Even if only 10% of the people who race there decide to risk street racing, that is a ton of people.

Also, what about the people who are just getting into racing? Before you could tell them about SS, get them all stoked on legal racing where you can see how fast your car really is. It's usually not hard to convince people to go down and take their car to SS because it's close, cheap and a ton of fun, but I'm pretty sure it won't be as easy to convince people to drive down to Red Deer or Edmonton :dunno:

Originally posted by SinisterProbeGt
Beyond.ca should buy it and manage it.
With the right plan plus ONLINE purchases and video, pictures media etc. you can gather give over the web.

in 2 to 3 years one or many could turn race city into a mecca in our million $$ city. Why not take our Forum one step closer to the track.
I personally would buy track days through here and track results etc.
Anyone else?
mabye find a few backers and take a run at it?

Even Rage2 isn't that baller haha... besides that still doesn't deal with the problem of the lease being up in 10 years. Who is going to drop that kind of coin for such a limited investment?

rage2

11-05-2007, 03:21 PM

Race City is a prime example of a bad investment. Now, if they owned the land, that's a totally different story. Throw $2m to buy the track, situated on land that can be pulled under you at any time (not just 10 years, city can pull it with 6 or 12 month notice), makes zero sense.

Coming up with that kind of money with a few investors isn't an issue, but it makes ZERO sense to own really nothing but a name and a bunch of tired facilities.

It's unfortunate that the city didn't help back Race City to bring the Champcar series here. That's huge sign that the city does not care at all about Race City.

Race City will be gone, just a matter of time, unless the city is willing to sell that land to the current owners. Even then, the costs thanks to the boom is astronomical, so it'll be next to impossible to recoup that cost. Remember we only have at best 7 months of racing every year. 5 of those months is a write off.

Enjoy it while you can.

speedracer

11-05-2007, 05:12 PM

Originally posted by LilDrunkenSmurf
I'm not so sure that's the only reason. If they actually put some effort into maintaining the track, they may attract more events. The potholes on the drag strip turn offs are ridiculous, and from what I've heard from some of the drifters, the oval is just as bad. No one but the volunteers put any kind of effort into it. All the money dissapears to somewhere that we don't even see. The only thing I can for sure say they use it for is bills. But how big are these bills? That's why I want to see a budget sheet before I start leaning too much one way or the other.

It's hard to get anyone to invest when you don't own the land. You also won't see books when RCMP is a private company. They run the show - even so badly at it (bad management).

When you look at our neighbours where the track is open a lot more often to the public than just the Friday night SS event.

There's been talk with NASCAR coming to Calgary which would be awesome to push for motorsport awarness! But who knows - we lost to Deadmonton for Champ Car... WTF?!?

LilDrunkenSmurf

11-05-2007, 05:16 PM

I can see where your coming from. No point investing in something you'll lose. But maybe they should push for an extension, or an actual purchase rather than a lease. I know it's not really feasible, and I, nor anyone else will take the initiative, but it'd be wonderful to start a new motorsports park. One thats open more than fridays. As for losing to Edmonton, I've never been there myself, but I've heard nothing but praise for their park (Castrol?).

A man can dream.

Mibz

11-05-2007, 05:35 PM

One thing I don't understand is the disparity between Castrol and Race City. Who owns Castrol? Are their events that much different from ours? I hear they actually prepare their track, is that the only difference that racers will see?

I dunno, I'm blind to this stuff and would love some information.

Gibson

11-05-2007, 06:11 PM

It's not just the motorsports fans that will lose out, Warped Tour is held at Race City. Where's it gonna go if the vendor is wiped out?

I've heard the autocross track at Race City is fairly fun...I guess I'll have to hope it's still around in spring time so I can get down there.

Ballin

11-05-2007, 06:29 PM

They should get rid of race city and build a real race track and staging area. The track is week and is part of the drag strip booo, the oval is small and out dated with a crappy infeild section and the parking lot is gravel hurtin and a major pain coughing in some pricks dust. The land is to costly and the lease is just going to go up as the city grows so less profit for them. What they should do is start building a new on outside of the city limits and show the world stage that oil money builds world class race tracks just like show jumping

Thats the word best believe it

:bigpimp:

95EagleAWD

11-05-2007, 06:51 PM

Originally posted by speedracer

There's been talk with NASCAR coming to Calgary which would be awesome to push for motorsport awarness! But who knows - we lost to Deadmonton for Champ Car... WTF?!?

There will never be a NASCAR event in Calgary as long as Edmonton has the GP up there. NASCAR was there this year with the circus and was quite a hit.

There's a reason why the Edmonton GP was the highest attended ChampCar event in Canada... it's a world-class event on a world-class track.

As for drag racing, you guys can come up to Castrol and race here. I've heard from everyone in Calgary that we have a much better track up here in Edmonton, and the road course is under construction. We're at a lower elevation as well.

403Gemini

11-05-2007, 07:40 PM

BigBadBear

11-05-2007, 08:32 PM

Originally posted by 95EagleAWD

There will never be a NASCAR event in Calgary as long as Edmonton has the GP up there. NASCAR was there this year with the circus and was quite a hit.

There's a reason why the Edmonton GP was the highest attended ChampCar event in Canada... it's a world-class event on a world-class track.

As for drag racing, you guys can come up to Castrol and race here. I've heard from everyone in Calgary that we have a much better track up here in Edmonton, and the road course is under construction. We're at a lower elevation as well.

Went to the Champ event last year, it was unreal how the City of Edmonton bent over backwards for that event. It was first class all the way.
And what did they get out of it?
Just 10's of millions of dollars, worldwide recognition and a bunch of really hot women.
Edmonton city council :thumbsup:

Calgary city council :zzz: :bullshit: :whipped: :guns: :thumbsdow

PS- roadcourse???

ercchry

11-05-2007, 08:42 PM

am i the only one that wants to buy some land with a few people just outside of the city and build a house and a road course? maybe a rally stage too :dunno: :drool:

CivicTunr

11-05-2007, 09:14 PM

nich148_9

11-05-2007, 09:17 PM

Originally posted by ercchry
am i the only one that wants to buy some land with a few people just outside of the city and build a house and a road course? maybe a rally stage too :dunno: :drool:

Erm, nope. Sign me up any day.

1 mile strip, completely straight and world class.
High speed bowl.
Handling course which is comparable to Laguna Seca (we can only hope).

Ymerej47

11-05-2007, 09:22 PM

My best friend lives beside the owner of Race City (The guy who is leasing it.) Im not sure if he really cares or what, but I know it is him for sure since he did take me for a ride in his "Race City Viper Pace Car". He is wealthy enough to put cash into it since he does live in a lake house in Sundance. Im just not sure if he wants to run it anymore, because I definitely know money is not an issue.

stevo 27

11-05-2007, 09:27 PM

well if were all worried why start a fund or something to that
efect between all the enthusiests in calgary we should be able to
raise quite a bit ??

ZC_CIVIC

11-05-2007, 09:35 PM

and as for the Nascar event, its Cascar bought out by nascar so nascar can make money in canada as well as in the usa...there was only one REAL nascar race in canada and that was the Bush serise in montreal( i think in that city) but thats it, dont expect to see a cup driver doing circles around any race track in alberta unless its a F1 track like the one in montreal...as for the race track, i dont know why there isnt as much itnerest in the track, my home town of saskatoon has a Circle track and a drag strip (SIR) and by golly there isnt a night where all the stands and the pics arnt full...and both those parks are bigger then Race city...and think about it thats a city of like under 500K so why isnt there as big of a interest out here...you think the whole cowboy thing would be huge there and the racing not so much like it is here...but to spike interest in race city they need to do a total overhaul on the place, it is run down/old/ outdated..to bring more money/events to town the facitlity has to be in tip top shape or else is dose not apeal to stock car serises...but i personally think race city will fail and there wont be another one built for the soul reason that the other track failed....but who knows maybe some rich stock car loving guy will fork out a few million and make it nice but those are only hopes n dreams...cuz god forbid the city cutting a lil bit of the stampede budget out to help another land mark of the city...

Tik-Tok

11-05-2007, 09:49 PM

Originally posted by ercchry
am i the only one that wants to buy some land with a few people just outside of the city and build a house and a road course? maybe a rally stage too :dunno: :drool:

Just outside Red Deer :thumbsup:

You'd get crowds from Edmonton, Calgary, and of course the locals there. And the RCMP would get TONS of cash flowing in from everyone racing home after watching an exciting night at the track :rofl:

95EagleAWD

11-05-2007, 09:51 PM

Originally posted by BigBadBear

PS- roadcourse???

Yessir.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.333282,-113.598332&spn=0.009354,0.019956&t=h&z=16&om=1

It's been like that for a couple years now, but the rumor behind the Castrol sponsorship is to finish that track.

Looks like a decent layout to me.

modded46

11-05-2007, 09:55 PM

BTW. the city needs to build a new water reservoir and that is prime land to do that.. They need to have something by 2010-2011 so not a lot of time.. Bye Bye Race City.

Tik-Tok

11-05-2007, 10:00 PM

Originally posted by modded46
BTW. the city needs to build a new water reservoir and that is prime land to do that.. They need to have something by 2010-2011 so not a lot of time.. Bye Bye Race City.

I hope to god they aren't dumb enough to build a reservoir right beside a landfill.

modded46

11-05-2007, 10:04 PM

Originally posted by Tik-Tok

I hope to god they aren't dumb enough to build a reservoir right beside a landfill.

it's Calgary what do you think?? haha

ZC_CIVIC

11-05-2007, 10:12 PM

Originally posted by modded46

it's Calgary what do you think?? haha

hehe...yeah to be i think SIR in saskatoon has the best 1/4 ive been/raced at...better facilities since its only a 1/4 mile no other tracks around so the people that pay for the upkeep of it only pay for the one track not speading the budget into several smaller sums for 2 even 3 tracks...

ryanallan

11-05-2007, 10:21 PM

Originally posted by 95EagleAWD

There will never be a NASCAR event in Calgary as long as Edmonton has the GP up there. NASCAR was there this year with the circus and was quite a hit.

There's a reason why the Edmonton GP was the highest attended ChampCar event in Canada... it's a world-class event on a world-class track.

As for drag racing, you guys can come up to Castrol and race here. I've heard from everyone in Calgary that we have a much better track up here in Edmonton, and the road course is under construction. We're at a lower elevation as well.

Off-topic but,

You are rite about the city bending over for that champ car race. Even private investors like Rexal drugs are willing to spend big on the event.

The only problem is that the champ car series is hurting and the event really showed this. The first year Edmonton had the GP it was awesome. Sold out, great event sponsors, great Varity of cars, great off-track activities, etc.

Two years later, champ car kicked ford to the curb and as a result the GP this year sucked. No off-track attraction, no pace cars, small Varity of car series, etc. Also I think attendance was less this year than the fist and second years.

InLoveWitRSX

11-05-2007, 10:36 PM

race city down... street racing up??

soloracer

11-05-2007, 11:31 PM

I think the issue the city has with the track has to do with needing the land under the north end of the roadcourse to upgrade/twin the road beside it or put an overpass in. Story has it that the city would have to pay to buy Art out of the lease (supposedly something like 1 mil) - something that I'm sure he's not fighting since he has wanted to get out of the track for some time. I believe the lease stated that all he had to pay was the taxes on the place which are around $60K per year. I saw the proposal that was being thrown around to buy the track and it included financial information. It showed the track lost money for several years but in 2005 it actually made money. With the booking level the last couple of years I can't imagine it being any different. The biggest issue anyone would have had with the proposal is that it required investors to put in $100K each with no financial investment by the owner of the proposal and no security from the city on the land. Basically it was "give me $100K for 1 share, I will get 2 shares worth $200K just for being me and if the lease gets yanked I'm out my time while you are out your money. If things don't get yanked I still get $200K credit for the plan" It was pretty easy to see why it wouldn't fly. But as bad as the plan may have been at least he was willing to give it a try....which is more than can be said for 99% of people out there.

The other issue I can see the city having is noise level and the closeness of the residences now. They probably get complaints about the track - retarded I know since the track was there first - however that is the trend with these sorts of things.

As for Nascar, there are big cities in the northwestern United States with the money and the desire to get an event (Seattle, etc) and they aren't getting one any time soon. I highly doubt that any Canadian city outside of Toronto would be in the running.

Spoons

11-06-2007, 12:08 AM

I heard talks of Nascar up in Calgary. They were actually talking about a small event for Nascar up here... I actually think it was planned, but I am almost certain with all this talk, Nascar backed out. I don't understand why someone with a little dough who is into cars doesn't try and buy a piece of land and open up a ACTUAL WELL MAINTAINED track. I am sure if you owned the land, got it Sanctioned as well as a few Nascar events, you could make some real good coin.

LilDrunkenSmurf

11-06-2007, 12:32 AM

Originally posted by ZC_CIVIC
and as for the Nascar event, its Cascar bought out by nascar so nascar can make money in canada as well as in the usa...there was only one REAL nascar race in canada and that was the Bush serise in montreal( i think in that city) but thats it, dont expect to see a cup driver doing circles around any race track in alberta unless its a F1 track like the one in montreal...as for the race track, i dont know why there isnt as much itnerest in the track, my home town of saskatoon has a Circle track and a drag strip (SIR) and by golly there isnt a night where all the stands and the pics arnt full...and both those parks are bigger then Race city...and think about it thats a city of like under 500K so why isnt there as big of a interest out here...you think the whole cowboy thing would be huge there and the racing not so much like it is here...but to spike interest in race city they need to do a total overhaul on the place, it is run down/old/ outdated..to bring more money/events to town the facitlity has to be in tip top shape or else is dose not apeal to stock car serises...but i personally think race city will fail and there wont be another one built for the soul reason that the other track failed....but who knows maybe some rich stock car loving guy will fork out a few million and make it nice but those are only hopes n dreams...cuz god forbid the city cutting a lil bit of the stampede budget out to help another land mark of the city...

Originally posted by ZC_CIVIC

hehe...yeah to be i think SIR in saskatoon has the best 1/4 ive been/raced at...better facilities since its only a 1/4 mile no other tracks around so the people that pay for the upkeep of it only pay for the one track not speading the budget into several smaller sums for 2 even 3 tracks...

My eyes! They bleed!

@ 95EagleAWD... I would love to drive up to Edmonton to go to Castrol, I've heard nothing but good about it. But as it stands, I pay $10 in gas, $25 in fees, and $5 for a helmet rental. $40 for fun on a friday, thats 30 mins (or less) away from my house. In order to go to Castrol, being a poor college student, I would need to have a place to stay overnight, some spare money for food/gas and somewhere to store the interior of my car (like hell i'm driving 6 hours back and forth with no interior).

It's the ease of use for RC to us Calgarians.

95EagleAWD

11-06-2007, 01:51 AM

^^

Absolutely, just like you won't see me coming down to RC to drag race on a friday night.

I'm not advocating that the track should shut down; that would be a shame. It's too bad that no one seems to want to step up to maintain it.

I'm looking forward to getting on the road course down there next year.

Spoons

11-06-2007, 02:01 AM

Originally posted by LilDrunkenSmurf

My eyes! They bleed!

@ 95EagleAWD... I would love to drive up to Edmonton to go to Castrol, I've heard nothing but good about it. But as it stands, I pay $10 in gas, $25 in fees, and $5 for a helmet rental. $40 for fun on a friday, thats 30 mins (or less) away from my house. In order to go to Castrol, being a poor college student, I would need to have a place to stay overnight, some spare money for food/gas and somewhere to store the interior of my car (like hell i'm driving 6 hours back and forth with no interior).

It's the ease of use for RC to us Calgarians.

Chalk that up to another reason why I think I am going to move back to Edmonton next year...