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Colorado NASCAR track

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Tat-2, Sep 22, 2010.

  1. Tat-2
    Joined: Jul 22, 2010
    Posts: 57

    Tat-2
    Member
    from SoCal

    Does anyone know anything about a NASCAR style track outside of Pueblo Colorado? Over the past few years whenever we head towards Denver by the southern route we see it but never hear anything about racing there....

    The track looks to be a nice size and doesn't appear to be torn up or abandoned...
     
  2. B.coupe
    Joined: Apr 22, 2008
    Posts: 104

    B.coupe
    Member
    from Mile High

    Pikes Peak speedway shut down years ago.
     
  3. Rat Rod Roach
    Joined: Sep 8, 2005
    Posts: 261

    Rat Rod Roach
    Member
    from Aurora CO.

    You might be thinking bout PPIR or Pikes Peak.... it's not a NASCAR track,
    it will never hold that crowd. only has seats on west side of track.
    last I heard it was a ghost town.

    Roach
     
  4. Penske has a proposal in to build one in Aurora. International Speedway seems to now be involved as well. High Plains raceway is about 60 miles east of Denver, but is mainly a Sports Racing road course
     

  5. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    Pikes Peak International Raceway. Not abandoned but is now privately owned and is used for mainly for SCCA-driving schools- testing and the like. For several years it hosted IRL, NASCAR Nationwide/Trucks, USAC and Goodguys etc. Then a few years ago Nascar had the grandiose plan to build a track in Denver and fearing losing any money to PPIR they bought the track and closed it. A couple of years ago the decided to sell it but only under the stipulation that the new owner would never host any kind of proffesional type racing that would compete with Nascar. They also took about 3/4 of the grandstands too. BTW-the chances of a Denver NASCAR track is slim to none!
     
  6. Reported a couple of months ago;
    On 1100 acres in rural Adams County, in what is technically still Aurora, developer Bill Schuck plans to build the largest sports project in Colorado history. Shuck says he envisions an oval, a road course, a drag racing facility, indoor and outdoor karting facilities and a concert pavilion as part of the Colorado Motorplex. "We are confident that we will be seeing racing in the Front Range of Colorado in the very near future," said Schuck in an interview in his Colorado Springs office surrounded by previously unseen graphic images of the Motorplex. "This is going to happen. The question is not if, but when and our plan is to have a track in place for the public to attend in 2013." Earlier efforts to bring NASCAR or Indy racing to Colorado have been vexed by challenges to finding a suitable location for a track. A site in Commerce City was rejected in part because it was too close to residences and earlier efforts in Aurora were turned down for fear the taxpayers would have to support it. At Schuck's Transport development, bordered by Front Range Airport and I-70, there are no nearby homes, easy access into and out of the development, the property is already zoned for a track and no tax dollars needed to build the project. Schuck says the oval alone will cost "several hundred million" dollars to construct. "This economy is very, very difficult," he said. "Fortunately, we're working on a concept that's very unique. This is not just another real estate deal. We have spoken with (NASCAR team) owners. We have spoken with drivers. We have spoken with numerous investors, all of whom have expressed an interest in becoming part of this facility. Colorado needs a motor sports facility." Schuck says he has not received any guarantee from major league racing that they will come if he builds the oval and yet, he says the reaction he's received in the process of putting the plans together has been overwhelmingly positive. He cites previous efforts by the sport to gain access to the two million people who live in the metro area. He expects to break ground next year, creating numerous jobs and what he calls an economic boom for Aurora and the state of Colorado in the process
     
  7. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    Yeah right,:rolleyes: the Denver nimbys will never let it happen.
     
  8. There was really good racing at PPIR in the early part of the decade. My niece's ex-hubby ran there for several seasons. The reasons given above why PPIR is no longer are correct. It's a mile and a half track, and there was no real reason to close the track. The three events I went to there were damn near sellouts. Granted, there were stands only on the West side of the track, but the location was great! All that is around it is part of the Fort Carson Army gunnery range, so worries of development around the track were slim to none.

    In the end, it was ALL about money. It always is. And that is the shame of the whole thing, is that PPIR is/was a very nice facility for the size, and had LOTS of potential. Sadly, it'll never be realized.

    A Denver-area NA$CAR track will never happen. The closest thing to great roundy-round racing these days along the Front Range is the small asphalt track at Erie, along I-25. I'm betting encroaching dvelopment in the area will force them out one day soon.
     
  9. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    Actually it's a one mile track. The new owner got it pretty cheap as I understand it. Think he does all right renting it out to the pro teams for testing now that they have restrictions on how much testing they can do on the tracks they race at. IIRC Mark Martins team was there recently. They have tried some oval racing there with a regional Late Model series but it wasn't promoted very well and was pretty much a financial failure.
     
  10. Tat-2
    Joined: Jul 22, 2010
    Posts: 57

    Tat-2
    Member
    from SoCal

    Just a damn shame.. A mile track would fit nicely with a NASCAR format....And it would take nothing reallt to build more stands...And unfortunately it is ALL about money and stupid nimrods who either don't understand the potential of what they got at the time or are too greedy and sell out...
    And if NASCAR did buy it and close it bacuase of a track MAYBE being built in Denver that just sucks.. We have 3 NASCAR tracks withing 3-5 hours from each other..Autoclub in Fontana, CA Phoenix and Las vegas..Hell 2 tracks in Colorado would be better than none..

    Thanks for all the info....
     
  11. RHOPPER
    Joined: Mar 12, 2006
    Posts: 263

    RHOPPER
    Member

    Going back even further, in the 80's that was a horse racing track. Pikes Peak Meadows. They ran some one off car races too. When it was opened as PPIR in the 90's, it hosted IRL, Bush series, and IMSA world sports car races. Then all the stuff listed above happened. Currently, SCCA and vintage clubs are using the road course inside the oval, and the huge parking lot behind the stands is used for autocrossing. The volkswagen club just had a gathering there last month, and there was an autocross inside the oval on a piece of the road course. Lots of fun. Good Guys hosted some events there before moving to Loveland. The owners are pretty receptive to any activity that makes money, and it's a great facility.
     
  12. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    I would be remiss not to mention that when the Denver track was being disputed, the (then) owners of PPIR gave backing to the Denver nimbys to help defeat NASCAR and protect their own interests. In the meantime they then sold out to a investment firm who then put it up for sale and Nascar swooped in and got their "revenge" so to speak. What goes around comes around, I guess. A pretty messy deal all around.
     
  13. xtralow
    Joined: Nov 12, 2004
    Posts: 1,190

    xtralow
    Member
    from So Cal

    Is this the one by Fountain CO? there was some kind of track there, that is between Pueblo and CO. Springs ?
     
  14. Yes, that is the track. It's on the West side of I-25, and has its own exit.
     
  15. Tat-2
    Joined: Jul 22, 2010
    Posts: 57

    Tat-2
    Member
    from SoCal

    When Stapleton Airport was closing they asked for ideas on how to develop the area.. I said a NASCAR track as it would bring money and people to spend money to Denver.. I received a letter stating that was the LAST thing they needed in Denver.... Such a shame they had no vision or foresite...
     
  16. 40StudeDude
    Joined: Sep 19, 2002
    Posts: 9,535

    40StudeDude
    Member

    Yeah, Denver's ambitions is to make a "great city"...however, anything that flies against the "greenness" of the environmentalists is verboten...Denver's idea of a great city was to move the airport 20 miles out of town...and then annex the surrounding property for tax purposes...

    I'm surprised they still parade cattle from the Union station up 17th street during the National Western stock show...just think of all that methane that's released at that time and at the stock show...!!!

    R-
     
  17. Tat-2
    Joined: Jul 22, 2010
    Posts: 57

    Tat-2
    Member
    from SoCal

    LOL.. Yeah BUT them enviromentalists think that manur eis the way to GROW......
     

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