More Doom and Gloom to hit this area

mike w

mike w

Location (City)
florissant
Gateway race track is not scheduled the NHRA event for next year and word is nothing is scheduled at all for this track. So until they find a new owner word is it is done.
 
Hate to say it, but maybe now they will get a management team in that knows what they are doing. This group was awful.
 
Problem 1 with a purchase is you buy the facility but not the land. Word is the land is not for sale and has 3 different owners. Problem 2 when this facility was built many tax credits where givin and they have come due and never been paid. Est is this track loses 7 1/2 plus a year. Only section that has ever made a profit is the drag strip. This site was way over built for the fans in this area. Nascar track has never filled stands here. For me they could take that tolet bowl racing and go elsewhere with it. What a shame. Rumor that ANABI RACING is trying to buy is just that a rumor and no truth to it. That was a dead deal 1 1/2 years ago. Now Dover Motorsports will have 2 closed track St Louis and Memphis.
 
Mike, not true on the NASCAR racing. I was there when it was a sellout thus the reason for the additional seating in turns 1 and 2. The most I had seen there was 56,000 for a Busch (nationwide) series race. More than any other track on the circuit, minus Bristol. NASCAR could have succeeded here IF the cup series would have come. I know you don't watch NASCAR, but if you did, you would see the same scenario repeated at almost all tracks on the nationwide circuit where the stands are half full or less. Another thing you have to watch NASCAR to understand what all goes in to these cars. The engine is an engineering marvel. The engine is designed at max horsepower and max torque going max RPM for 500 miles. A drag engine doesn't go that far in an entire season. Please, don't down it if you don't understand it. :)
 
Sorry to get your panties in a twist there bud. just compare 1 nhra pro-stock car to any nascar and you may get a eye opening - 500 cu in tire roll out 105 in dia 33.8 rear gears 5.19 thru 5.46 running speeds of 208 - 211 putting out 1250 - 1300 house power nat asperated put the pencil to it rpm 10500 allowing for tire grow. That is unheard of for a 2 valve per cylinder 500 cu in engine and to see the dif between #1 qualifier and #16 - compare just 1 of these to any nascar and you may get a new understanding and then you will see a nascar vehicle in many respects is very primative. And the next time you go to a nascar race get 1 whole row of fans to smile and count the teeth - you might have enough there for 1 person - so there bud take off your blinders and yes if it hadn't been for the R & D of drag racing the nascar boys would still be grabbing engines out of salvage yards to race with. This track has never had a PAID sell out and you can't pay the bills with free tickets on a facility that was over builts for the fan bas for nascar in this area
 
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Back on topic - no more high dollar pro-grade racing at Gateway.

My .02 - NASCAR peaked in the years following Dales death, and have suffered a downturn like everything else in the last couple of years. Pro drag racing is even a smaller audience in the stands and on TV - and has suffered as well.

For Gateway, a B grade facility at best - it's doomed. Do the still run an Indy race at Gateway?
 
No, they don't run any open wheel races here. The last one was a head to head competition for fans between the IRL (Indy 500) and CART (here @ Gateway) on Memorial Day, guess which one won? I just think ticket prices are hard to justify.

Mike, I get the engine thing, not downing drag racing, but why does it take 3 days to get 300,000 drag fans to an event when Talladega, Daytona, and Indy can draw that many NASCAR fans in one day? Again, if NASCAR were to rebuild their engines after every 1/4 mile, I'm sure they could last longer and would want to get more horsepower. I think anyone in this club can build an engine to last 1/4 mile at any horsepower, once. :D Look, I like both, just happen to like F1, NASCAR, and Indy racing better. Besides, I don't wear panties, I wear thongs, mostly go commando :rolleyes:
 
Only top fuel and nitro funny car tear down after every run do to melted and factured parts. Top alcohol and alco funny car along with pro-stock, compt eliminator and some super stock vehicle just do clutch rework and some rear tire replacement. Hope your not still getting them thongs used at goodwill store. Drag strip for many years always turned a profit, so that kind of says something and had something going at least every week end on the drag strip. I go back many years there and remember early days when the drag strip faced the other way and it was referred to as the swamp due to the return road covered by water after a rain the night before. And yes I have no love for nascar and this is just another reason due to some dimwhits thinking it would go in this town and ontop of that spent way to much on upgrading when built that pile of s^&t. Back before it was built auggie busch was wanting to build new facility either in columbia il or west alton and was hopping catapiller was buying the land to put a plant there but that fell threw due to the land owner ship problem - that came 1st hand by mr. busch's private pilot back in the 80s.
 
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New news on gateway

This come from reliable source with madison county tax assesors office. A current NHRA pro-stock racer who is in the oil industry is looking into a complete purchase ( that means land and all ) and so far is a go the only holdup is the back tax problem. A anouncement to be made with in next 2-3 weeks and if it goes will be under new ownership jan 1 2011. 1 name may be a local from st louis.
 
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