I hope this doesn't come off as spam and the mods are certainly free to delete this or move it if they deem it necessary,but........ I'm depressed.My home track(drag strip) is for sale. I was talking to Johnnie (track owner)earlier this evening about the word around the campfire I've been hearing lately,and recieved an E-mail a few Mins. ago that the track(Ardmore Raceway) is for sale. Ardmore Raceway is arguably the oldest "CONTINUALLY OPERATING" dragstrip in the country since INYOKERN was shut down due to "Homeland Security" issues. Now granted Ardmore has never been a national event track, but has had some interesting and somewhat noteable characters and has always been a sensible hometown track and it would be a shame at this point in the game to see it go away. The following is a copy of the e-mail. Hey Racers, Yes, unfortunately the rumors are true. The Ardmore Raceway property is For Sale. No, I don't have a price for you. We will listen to any serious offers until January. The whole 200 acres + all the track fixtures or ??? what ever you have in mind. We are not interested in any lease or lease to own deals. If some one has made an offer we can live with and save the race track......great.....if not we'll turn it over to a Realtor in January..........The odds of saving the race track after it goes to a Realtor are slim..... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We're not any happier about this than you are ! See You At The Races.........Be Well...... The afforementioned 200+ acres is industrial property located just south of Ardmore on Hwy.77. The other mother road. Hmmm,I wonder why my typing is suddenly bold? I don't know really what cons***utes an offer they can live with but I would ***ume that for the track and enough acreage to operate it would be in the 3-500 K range. Johnnie was kinda closed mouthed about monies. For my .02, it would be nice to see someone with some money ,some sense,and an interest in nostalgia/racing wind up with it as opposed to a developer. The track website is www.ardmoreraceway.com I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
bummer. wonder if some people went in to save it if they could build some shop spaces there and lease those out to cover money.
Maybe a HAMB consortium could buy it. It would lend a whole new meaning to H.A.M.B. Drags and be a permanent answer to the eternal question,"does anyone know where there is an outlaw track I can run my car at"?
That's ****s. At least I've had the opportunity to run down the track. Hope someone will buy it and continue to use it as a track.
That's true. With 30,000 members, that's only $10 each. Or $100 for 3000 of us. I think it would be pretty cool. Talk about a HAMB Alliance...
I started this thread as a kind of lament,for lack of a better way to put it,of the apparent coming to an end of a place I've been quite fond of for several years now. It ain't really spectacular track as tracks go,but I think it has always been a special place as tracks go. The first time I took a race car there I got paid,won the gamblers race on a test and tune day. Nice way to start a relationship huh? I've managed to get to the finals in The"Cowpasture Reunion" (lovingly reffered to as "The Cowpasture Nationals") LOL twice since I started racing there in 98. I'd really like to have won one.I'd still like to win one.But alas it appears that the end of an era is at hand. It's a traditional race around these parts that lots of folks have looked forward to participating in for around 35 years or so. I've made a lot of friends there and had a lot of good times there over the last nine years. The owners Johnnie and Suzan are as good a pair of folks as you'd ever wanna meet. Johnnie has been there since the 70's. I don't know exactly the history of when he became a part owner,but he eventually owned it all. Now at the ripe old age of 60somethingish he's been doing it long enough and wants to take time to go race with his grandson when and where he wants without being tied down. I can dig it,but it makes me sad. Then Scoobs remark got me thinkin'(read,dreaming)maybe a buyers group made up of Hot Rodders isn't such a bad idea.With 200 acres and a Drag Strip there is enough room for about any car related thing a group could dream up. God knows enough mom and pop tracks out there have been eschewed in favor of realestate developments and a plethora of other things. I would genuinely hate to see another one go. Anyway,in the interest of tradition,and now that the thought is out there,this might not be a bad time to gauge the interest in a thing of this nature. Just....a thought.
Man what an idea .I love that old track .Raced there often when i was a teenager.I am in for sure if you guys are serious on pitching in to buy it .Great place to have another DOTD ,or THAW.20 or 30 drag events a year would be good enough for me ...
man it ****s to hear about this. Up here in michigan we had kind of an out law track for some years. Called Detroit dragway. It was a little podunk track but it was a 1/4 mile and not to poorly taken care of. but you could run what ya brung. it finnaly su***bed to corporate land grab, and sold out. within a few years there were commercial buildings all over its property. Miss that ol' track many a fun times there. Now to go run a car you have to go out to Milan, but that place is kinda cold, and not for the street guy that wants to run it. alot of events but al tightly controlled (not that that is a bad thing) just not a run what ya brung kinda place.
The American way, is for the city to buy it. How about this: get the county sherriff, the police commissioner, and the town counsel (whatever their real ***les are) of Armore, and Springer, and make it a park "Carter County Motor Park"). Hire a park staff, and pay their wages through events and taxes. Put an oval track or a serpentine track around the drag track for other events. Have the NHRA come in and advise on a modern track surface. The place has no security right now. Most kids just hop the barb-wire fence rather than pay to watch. Tell the city, if they don't buy it, build it, expand it, that all the people who used to go there will be street racing instead. I don't know if there's anything encrouching the site now, as google maps has no resolution in that area, but it looks like some homes are being built to the west of the track. That's the kiss of death.
****!..if there are houses any where near it..its done for. all those people will ***** about the crowds, noise, trash etc..sounds like this horse is already dead. it ****s to hear about this. It happens way too much.
There is one near my home town for sale and been for sale for a while. I am sad to say it is most likely gonna die. There have been industrial parks been popping up around it over a number of years and I believe that the real estate value is getting to a point where someone is gonna buy it and section off for more industrial parks. www.lancasterracing.com/
"Have the NHRA come in"? That would be a sure way to make sure that the old time, "run watcha brung" racing would die. The only way it will survive will be if some sort of private group that understands what "real drag racing" is all about takes it over, or as Old6Rodder put it in another post it will become "Dragsneyland".
I guess what I meant was, the track is **** right now. The land is what is valuable. The last 1/8 mile which killed Sheppard is pretty rough, and the first 1/8 mile is about like any oklahoma 2 lane road except it has oil all over it I went to the Hot Rod Reunion this summer and it was fun and low key. It just needs a 1/8 mile track upgrade, re-paved shutdown 1/8, and the turn outs and return road fixed. I don't think it could ever be a 1/4 mile track again. The track is built 45 degrees to the prevailing wind (strong in oklahoma), and if it was 1/4 mile, then if you go off the end, you are going to be dealing with the neighbors cattle and their watering holes.
Kinda far for the weekend trip to the drags for me but I'm in for a fifty spot if this thing gets serious even if it doesn't turn out to be the home of the HAMB drags's. I have seen what developers do to drag strips!
I have no idea about the logistics behind an idea like this, but to have something like the HAMB Drags or the Day of the Drags this close to home, I would go $100 per year. I know it would be hard to please 3000 or more charter member/partners, but the possibilites are interesting. Even though the left and right coast are kinda far, it seems there ought to be enough midwest guys to pull it off. Texas, Okies, Arkies, Kansas, Missou, & LA. Just my .02 "I'm only here for the beer" Steve.
I just thought it would be cool to own our own park. I don't know who would actually own it per se (you couldn't split a ***le 3000 ways) and it wouldn't really matter so long as it was preserved and not sold off later for the same reason. It would be a publicly held corporation type of thing but I'll bet it would take a bunch more just to make usable again even if you held a rehab event and car show out there (which is a great idea). If this one is too far gone, it's not like there still aren't a fair amount of these around the country in ****py shape that this idea would fly with. I think it would be the ultimate clubhouse for our little 30,000 person club. I'd put Kirk in charge of it!
Quote by maxspeedracing """The American way, is for the city to buy it. How about this: get the county sherriff, the police commissioner, and the town counsel (whatever their real ***les are) of Armore, and Springer, and make it a park "Carter County Motor Park"). Hire a park staff, and pay their wages through events and taxes. Put an oval track or a serpentine track around the drag track for other events. Have the NHRA come in and advise on a modern track surface. The place has no security right now. Most kids just hop the barb-wire fence rather than pay to watch. Tell the city, if they don't buy it, build it, expand it, that all the people who used to go there will be street racing instead. I don't know if there's anything encrouching the site now, as google maps has no resolution in that area, but it looks like some homes are being built to the west of the track. That's the kiss of death. I guess what I meant was, the track is **** right now. The land is what is valuable. The last 1/8 mile which killed Sheppard is pretty rough, and the first 1/8 mile is about like any oklahoma 2 lane road except it has oil all over it I went to the Hot Rod Reunion this summer and it was fun and low key. It just needs a 1/8 mile track upgrade, re-paved shutdown 1/8, and the turn outs and return road fixed. I don't think it could ever be a 1/4 mile track again.""" The track is built 45 degrees to the prevailing wind (strong in oklahoma), and if it was 1/4 mile, then if you go off the end, you are going to be dealing with the neighbors cattle and their watering holes. God I hate to get all antagonistic here,but guys like you really bring my ire to the fore,especially when I'm piss faced drunk and feeling uninhibited,but today I'm gonna make a sober exception. I wonder Max, do you have a clue what in the hell you are talking about at all? The NHRA (No Hot Rodders Allowed) is about the most anti HAMB and ANTI Ardmore organization one could possibly imagine. Once upon a time in a land far far away asking the NHRA for help and advice meant something. For the small outfit today,not hardly. As for the city purchasing the track,that's who it was purchased from. You've been there what,,,,,,,once? You're a typical case of I've seen it once I know it all. If you would've done a walk about you would know without consulting your google earth that what appears to be home construction to the west is in fact an old tank battery and what's left of a road to and from a defunct paving co. The closest thing to neighboring cattle now is the guy who leases a large part of the property to make hay. Did you actually MAXSPEEDRACE while you were there? Do you actually MAX SPEED RACE or is that just your idea of a clever handle? Prevailing winds are a factor at a lot of tracks in these parts in a fast car,Ardmore,Witchita,Denton,Noble,and Tulsa to name a few. As for the track being "****" well, it needs a bit of attention here and there and it definitely isn't modern national event material but then,what's traditional about that? It is lighted and it does have a modern compulink timing system.It does have a section of pits that have water and electricity available. Other amenities are 2 ponds on the property with fish in 'em and a cart path from the pits to 'em. A fenced playground for the kiddies when they get bored. Oh and what in the hell do you know about what killed Shepard there that day? Allright,I'll get off my high horse after this, but I'll leave you with this thought, you really should consider before you type whether or not you really know anything about what you are carrying on about,beforehand instead of having to resort to a second post to try and cover your ***. <!-- / message --> <!-- / message -->[/SIZE][/FONT]
Anybody who uses large fonts is a slobbering fool. I'm not even going to read it. Wipe your chin ya idiot hillbilly.
Recardo,you are welcome to come wipe my chin for me. As regards the large fonts,I have now corrected it. For the recod,I didn't know how it happened and didn't know how to stop it and was to caught up in the moment to take the time to figure it out.Please disregard the large type but know I did mean to type what I did and I only slobber when I sleep, go to the dentist or smell nitro. Oh and I'd be kinda proud to be a Hillbilly. Moving on....... Now that I have taken a few minutes to calm myself from the rant,I have to say that I tend to agree with Scoob. Granted my OPINION is biased to the nth degree but still,I would love to see it happen pretty much as described. But however motivated I might be to/by the dream, I am to uneducated and emotionally unstable (as evidenced by my prior rant/s) to take on something of this magnitude and make it happen.Hell it's all I can do to breathe in and out,coach a 12 year old soccer team,raise 3 kids,get along with my wife and tinker with old cars. Having said that,I would hope that others here far smarter than me would take the dream and run with it. People like say Ryan&Scoob,Mr.Mac,Doc.,and anyone else who has experience with racing and car shows corporate law and money and a propensity for making dreams real.
any one serious about hot rods or cars in general should be willing the throw in on this. im not sure about other state laws but i do know from experience (my pops tried to move a clay track a couple of years ago) that in wisconsin if a track of any kind closes its not coming back and not being replaced. tracks are like old iron there are only so many and when they're gone thats it.
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