Checkered past & checkered flag for Texas World Speedway
Stock Car Racing History
At least Dale made the cover of the program. A moral victory? Ehh, yeah probably not. From Motor Racing Programme Covers .
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Stock Car Racing History
Checkered past & checkered flag for Texas World Speedway
Stock Car Racing History
The story of Texas World Speedway is a complicated one. The track seemed to be doomed from the time the first spade of dirt was turned. Though NASCAR ran its final Cup race at the track 35 years ago, other forms of motorsports ran at the place from time to time. But now, it appears what remains of the track will soon vanish altogether.
http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/college-station-endorses-municipal-utility-district-to-replace-texas-world/article_f3d71416-b637-11e3-96a7-001a4bcf887a.html
College Station endorses municipal utility district to replace Texas World Speedway, foster growth
By BETH BROWN beth.brown@theeagle.com | Posted: Friday, March 28, 2014 12:15 am
The College Station City Council unanimously gave conditional consent to create a new municipal utility district that will replace the Texas World Speedway just outside of College Station.
The plan will now go to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for its approval, during which time a series of agreements will come before city council to ready services and sync up the development plans with the citys building standards. The developer is asking for the city to provide water and sewer services to the community.
The municipal utility district will be the first in Brazos County. The cost for these districts, or MUDs, are all fronted by developers. Then the MUD can issue bonds to recoup costs.
The concept plan for the development will span about 550 acres in College Stations extra-territorial jurisdiction, and add about 1,400 single-family homes, 27 acres of commercial development, 14 acres for a future College Station school district school and 73 acres of detention and greenways .
The Brazos County Appraisal District values that land at $5.4 million, but the projected build out value is $514 million.
The proposed tax rate for the MUD is set right now at $1 per every $100 of assessed property value. Thats more than double College Stations property tax rate, which is currently 42 cents per $100 of assessed value. Legal counsel for the developer said those tax rates reduce as the MUD matures, typically by 40 percent.
Traffic and fire services were topics of conversation for the council. Bill Mathers, developer on the MUD and president and CEO of Texas World Speedway, said a traffic study will be coming to determine how best to plan for an increase in traffic around the development.
College Station Fire Chief Eric Hurt said the planned development is being served right now by the South Brazos County Fire Department. He said the development would be a big burden on its services, though it may be looking to move from a fire district to an emergency services district, which would allow it to collect more tax dollars in that area to get the equipment necessary. Hurt and Mathers said discussions are ongoing to address that need.
Discussion on the proposed master-planned development lasted longer than an hour. Five people spoke during a public comment period, including the developer and a representative of local homebuilders, Buck Prewitt, who said there is a need for this development in College Stations growing community.
Three of the public speakers spoke on behalf of the racing community that would miss the track.
Mayor Pro Tem Karl Mooney said the speedway just hasnt been able to keep up with the times.
I believe in owners rights and I believe the owner of any property is entitled to the best use of that property, Mooney said. Our local builders have said theres a need for single-family lots and quality neighborhoods. This is an opportunity for the city. We dont have to do this tonight ... but if we dont down the road when this property becomes annexed, we may regret a lack of action.
Mathers expressed his gratitude to the council for its support and said he will begin work right away on the agreements.
Were grateful for the ability to have a cooperative relationship with the municipality and work together thats a real blessing for a developer, Mathers said.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Bet Kannapolis Didn't See F-1 Coming!
General
Thank goodness Waffle House serves only waffles and not pancakes. Otherwise, the one in Mooresville might be faced with a real life version of this scenario.
LABOR DAY RACE RETURN TO DARLINGTON?
Current NASCAR
To Jay Coker's point, he had it. Not sure what the trade-off was, but SMI somehow surrendered the season closer to Homestead. With ISC as Homestead's corporate owner, they won't relinquish it back to SMI. Phoenix or Fontana might get it - or another ISC track suitable for November - but France & Co. isn't going to cede money back to Bruton without something in return. And with the new championship format, the season ender in Homestead is gonna bank more dollars than ANY race on Labor Day weekend.
Plus, as much as I'd like to see the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend again, that weekend is now dominated nationwide by college football.
LABOR DAY RACE RETURN TO DARLINGTON?
Current NASCAR
Could see that rumor being out there. But having an interest in selling it and being able to do are two different things. It shows the exposure in the economic model of race track ownership. Who else could possibly buy it except ISC? ARCA and Indy Car don't have the deep pockets to buy a facility for their series. Penske is out of track ownership. And Dover found it pretty much had to shutter its facilities in St. Louis, Memphis and outside of Nashville because there was no market for tracks with no revenue streams.
I suppose a non-racing company could buy the land for other uses. If that were the case, they'd want to buy it for cents on the dollar to compensate for the demolition and re-build costs. And Atlanta has a LOT of acreage. Hard to believe there is a business out there at the moment who would need it all, and that area south of Atlanta doesn't strike me as a booming residential area where new homes could be built in place of the track.
Speaking of homes, Atlanta's future would seem to be complicated by equity owners of the condos at Tara Place. I'm not sure what the ramifications would be for SMI if Bruton / NASCAR agree to move the remaining date. With nothing going on out there, would SMI still be on the hook for maintenance, landscaping, security, etc. for those who own the condo units?
LABOR DAY RACE RETURN TO DARLINGTON?
Current NASCAR
As long as I've followed racing and as big a fan as I am of the on-track competition, I (like others I suppose) know little about the inner workings of getting a sanctioned date from NASCAR, working with local and state authorities on traffic and parking, collaborating with hotel operators, etc.
While I'm sure Bruton's people have worked for ages on trying to help with traffic, I'm just not sure they've had much success. After going pretty regularly in the 1st half of the 90s, I quit going for 1 simple reason: traffic. I didn't go back until a couple of years ago when I won tickets for the weekend. After finding the traffic as bad in 2012 as I left it in 96, I swore I wouldn't return - even if the tix were free again.
I too liked the original Atlanta config - but I've grown to accept the Charlotte copied version b/c I have no other choice. But from early 90s forward, fans flocked to both configs in droves - but primarily for the fall race. The spring one was repeatedly doomed because of weather issues it seemed.
If the remaining date is moved (be it to Ky or to Vegas), I'll be disappointed in it's removal from the schedule. But I don't have a romanticized view of ATL like I did for Wilkesboro and Rockingham.
LABOR DAY RACE RETURN TO DARLINGTON?
Current NASCAR
With ISC owning Darlington & NASCAR scheduling the dates, I suggest the common management between the 2 can pretty much do as they please. If NASCAR/ISC decide it's in their best interest to return the Southern 500 to Labor Day weekend, it would happen.
Bruton would snort a good bit if such a move were made, and he'd rattle his saber with threats to sue this one and that one. In the end though, he'd pretty well have to accept wherever NASCAR slots Atlanta.
While I'd love to see the return of tradition to Labor Day and Darlington, I wouldn't bet my meager savings on it. Moving the race back to its traditional weekend would be a popular move. But the return would also bring a new focus on the return of other traditions associated with that weekend - traditions NASCAR is deathly afraid of these days (e.g. Southern pride).
MODEL CITY 500 1969
Stock Car Racing History
From Kingsport Post
updated by @tmc-chase: 04/12/17 10:57:28AM