rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

Actually, not just Calgarians, as people come from across western Canada to use Race City - even half decent permanent tracks are pretty thin on the ground in the West. I'm sure many of us with 7's either race, do lapping, or Secret Streets drag and autocross at Race City.

As reported in the Sun on Monday (and the subject of rumour for at least a couple of years), Race City's lease with the city will not be renewed after it expires in Oct. of 2009.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/...4/4772786.html

At least one alderman is speaking up for racers and car enthusiasts to try to find suitable city land to relocate to; just the same, it is probably already too late for a new facility to be located, designed, and built for 2010, considering the slow (and expensive) pace of construction in Calgary.

The petition is found online at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/racecity/petition.html

Below is the petition text and, another link to the Calgary Sports Car Club forum thread where the petition and ongoing discussion
http://cscc.speedracer.ca/forums/ind...ic,7516.0.html

Aviator 902S

Done. Of course, if someone on the Calgary real estate board has an agenda and clout at City Hall this petition will just be ignored anyway...

Alak

iTrader: (9)

I've heard talk of building a superspeedway a ways from the city in an effort to attract larger motorsports venues. This could be an oppurtunity for a serious update and upgrade in western motorsports. But then again, its just talk, and it has been for years.


As much as I like racecity, and would like a new lease on its life, its simply too old. The cost to update it will probably cost more than new land and a track. However, I'll sign. I've enjoyed many a year there.

Black91n/a

I heard about that a little while ago. It really sucks, and currently Spokane Raceway Park is fighting for its life and needs a sympathetic buyer to step forward to keep it open, or it'll be lost forever. So that's two tracks out of 4 within a reasonable drive of where I'll be living come spring (Kootenays), that really sucks.

Just submitted my name now.

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

There's not much chance of saving Race City, frankly, as it lies in the path of the now accelerated SE ring road - otherwise there might have been years left in the lease. The ring road will run along the east side of the property, but the planned overpass and ramps to 114 Ave lie right on the carousel and pits area (the plans can be looked up at Alberta infrastructure). The city wants the remainder of the land back to expand Shepherd landfill, since between population growth and the highest per capita garbage output in Canada, the city's 30 year supply of landfill is fast disappearing. It is possible that it might be extended for a couple years with some pressure - there's just not time now to find and develop a facility before 2010, so the city and province's haste leaves no hope for continuity in motor sports opportunity.

It would be nice if the city were to make available for lease or purchase a comparable parcel of land somewhere on the outskirts - but considering the current prices for land in Calgary, such a deal would cost tens, if not hundreds of millions - certainly beyond what the market will bear, considering Race City has marginal profitability now (of course, some of that is due to the relatively poor condition of the facility, but even so, the road course is rented every day from early May to late September). So perhaps the best we can hope for, besides a temporary reprieve, will be for the city to lean on other municipal districts/counties to allow a track - there have been attempts to get approval for a better designed and constructed facility in southern Alberta, but of course the NIMBY rule always applies - yeah, its a great idea, build it somewhere else.

FCGTX

Signed and Signed!

FC3S.USD

iTrader: (2)

thats sucks, I just map googled the place and looks very good, and very close to some people.

of topic what did the casual 4 hour slot cost or full day lapping over there.

Black91n/a

I guess if we want to go there time's running out. I'll have to start looking for a good track day or driving school to go to there this summer.

84stock

iTrader: (5)

It will be gone, business is business. It would be nice if they could extend the lease until a replacement has been developed. Sounds like the operators have been sitting on their hands and twirling their thumbs for a while already. If they don't have the initiative and financial support to find a solution than it will never happen. the new scene needs more draw, partner with other businesses, add a major speed shop to the facility with a dyno facility. Add a karting facility. Increase the entertainment potential with an arcade perhaps. There just needs to be more to go to. Get hooters to sponsor a special event with "their" girls on a nopi style event.

84stock

iTrader: (5)

Sad thing is the Racecity website hasn't posted anything about this at all. If they don't give a **** than all the petitions in the world won't make a difference. Looks like street racing is gonna have to get better organized now, police lookouts, radios, safe location selection etc......cops shouldn't complain if the city doesn't care to maintain a safer place to race.

Syritis

iTrader: (2)

gary, they place u described kinda sounds like the karts in balzac need to make a full size track addition. i doubt there is room land values outside the city haven't changed much. I do agree that a new track would need a multitude of sponsers to even get the idea started... so what ever happened to napa? a track on the outskirts of calgary is the most logical idea but there would need to be a major road near the area. most of the racers at secret street wouldn't bother attending if it required driving down a couple range roads.

Football22

I used to work at the karts in Balzac and those guys just ran out of money and couldn't afford to complete the veniew. Once they realised they weren't making as much as expected they just closed there doors.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

man auto racing in canada is dying out fast, holy crap.

84stock

iTrader: (5)

Real serious problem is the season length. First the track needs to be located where the weather has a potential of being a little better. Then the track needs to be situated where the spectators are protected from common prevailing winds. And finally, the oval needs to be placed so the eving sun isn't always in the spectators eyes since most of the races are in the evening. Lastly, we only have a season that is 6 months long at best. Can you picture Walmart for instance spending money on a loaction they would have to close for 6 months every year. That is the biggest factor, hence the need for sponsors and alternate business draws, indoor/outdoor karting? (build the stands on top of the indoor karting facility) Majors speedshop & dyno location. Imagine the draw to the track if they had spectator holding capability for a dyno competition. Do a couple concerts perhaps. Just picture when you go there on a saturday, what if there was something for the kids to do other than sit and watch, some mini karts, mini golf, mini drags, etc? And finally, pave the f&%$ing pits. Last time I raced all the **** and gravel flew off my tires after the launch and in the car it almost sounded like something was coming apart. When the 7's race on the road course it is never publicized, I would have loved to attend.

84stock

iTrader: (5)

Hand out some "free" passes to the weekend crowd to come and see secret street, bigger crowd might force the opening the the indoor food concession rather than relying on the hot dog cart. Bribg in some Hooters girls, hell i would pay some $$ for some cool pics taken using them & my car.

84stock

iTrader: (5)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOh, bad spelling, need to start proof reading!

Syritis

iTrader: (2)

this is the exact problem no one knows whats going on. to be perfectly honest i learned about where the street races were before i learned that i could openly race at race city. no wonder theirs so many kids on the streets. Maybe we should talk autodream, or speedtech to open a location near a giant field. pave the field!
even race city has winter events, that are held in the field of rocks, that they call a parking lot. I wouldn't take my car near that event. so maybe calgary need less of a race track and more of an entertainment center that has a race track on the back. I'm sure ANY tunner would love to have an open track on the door step to their shop. that could and would save everyone a bunch of money.

djessence

The closure of race city has been an ongoing problem for the last few years, simply the owner has lost interest. This most obviously affects the fans of motorsport, track days and as well the kart racers who sub lease land and have their own track to the south.

As someone stated the NIMBY rule makes life very difficult to find land in which to place a track/racing venue. As for the season length there are other things that could be done in the off season. If well laid out ice racing could be held for a few months etc.

But for the nimby, even trying to find land near strathmore is difficult because all it takes is one person saying i dont think so, i live out here so its peaceful blahblahblah. Which to anextent is understandable. The city wants it gone for the ring road as well as for a piece of land that will provide 5 years of landfill(which isnt very much). The only way another racing venue will ever be opened is if someone who is interested, well connected, and wealthy decides to open something up.

Sad to see it leaving, but hopefully something will open up in the years to come.

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

There are in fact such people in or around Calgary; the issue is the shortened schedule to get something off the ground. Plans and development approval would be difficult to have done in the two years remaining until Race City faces closure; let alone actual construction of a facility, and that assumes a location on which to base plans and necessary approvals.

If Race City closes and a new facility, either under a new development group, or essentially a relocation of Race City, is not available, racers will simply not have an alternative. There is a paved 1/4mile dragstrip at Castrol in Edmonton, so the more hardcore drag crowd may have somewhere to go if they're willing to drive every weekend, and there's a very small 1/4mile paved oval at Wetaskawin (but no onsite parking for motorhomes or trailers), which is a very limited outlet for the roundy-round types, but other than that, a lot of Calgary and Alberta racers would likely end up selling their track cars - certainly, there's nowhere else to go for roadcourse-type racing. There is Stratotech up by Fort Saskatchewan, but it's a big cart track, without room for passing (so really only good for Solosprint/time trials), and I gather the operators get uptight when cars use it and have offs, chewing up the grass. The schools and clubs that use Race City will have nowhere to go for some legal, controlled racing. So at least extending the Race City lease for a couple of years could allow a new site to have a hope of being completed to allow racing continuity.

Even the police are behind maintaining some sort of motorsports outlet: click the link for a story that ran locally on Global on the Jan 28th
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1C6i4j0VGk
The police of course realize that in the absence of organized public drags, autocross, and time trial-type events that people may start organizing such on city streets - and Calgary has thus far managed to not have the extent of street racing problems seen in the lower Mainland or parts of southern Ontario.

The reason for putting pressure on the City of Calgary and the province is for them to realize there is a large body of people using Race City. They would never think of closing even one arena in the city before having a replacement - or two - online. It would throw hockey and skating programs into an uproar. So while I think it unlikey the city and province will provide land for a replacement track at a reasonable cost (land is just too expensive in or near the city now), they might realize that it's a bad idea to close down the only such facility before another has a chance to be built - and maybe even get some lottery dollars and government support directed to doing so.

Syritis

iTrader: (2)

I was talking to a guy that works part time at daven port. he said the his boss and few other entrepreneurs went into city council and said 'we will build a world class motor park, where do u want it?' and dave bronconnier said 'calgary doesn't want a race track, it attracts the wrong kind of people' then shut down the idea that fast.
but yet dave put so much money toward stopping street racing. does he think he can just tell us to stop being enthusiests, or does he think we are all 18years old with mommy and daddy's acura?

i'm pretty pissed about it. anyone know more about this?

84stock

iTrader: (5)

Calgary is very difficult to deal with, and stubborn. Be a lot more successful dealing with Strathmore, Balzac or Airdrie and inviting some oil companies to help sponsor. There is some very nice oil company property just east of balzac.

Black91n/a

Racing is very much misunderstood in the public. They think that the racers that use the track are the same ones that are street racing, driving like maniacs in fast cars, speeding through residential areas and such. Fact is most racers drive trucks or very ordinary cars and don't push the limits on the street, because they've got a venue to take care of those urges safely. Most club racers in my experiance are 40 or older and with succesful, well paying careers and families. They're certainly not the type of element that any city would want to keep out, but it's the whole incorrect public perception that kills the sport. It's up to all of us to educate those who hold such views.

I recall one time at work talking to this one woman saying that I was going to a driving school and her response was something along the lines of: "great, we've already got enough people speeding through my neighbourhood". Implying that I was part of that group (I usually drive below the limit in residential areas and I never push it to the limit on the streets, and never drive hard in populated areas).

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

You should have told her she should take a school too Most people have little idea of how poor their driving skills really are (and that's not even getting into their bad habits, like cell-phone jabbering, complete lack of knowledge of merging and lane protocol, adjusting the radio, snarfing a Big Mac,, etc, I'm just talking their situational awareness and car control skills). But they'll assume people who have honed their skills on the track are the ones driving like maniacs on the street. Yet here in Calgary, the heaviest users of the track are performance driving schools and marque-enthusiast clubs - Porsche Club, the BMW club, the Exotic car club as well as the less high-brow brands - and in most cases, they are professional people pulling 6 figures+ - after all, they're the ones who can afford to be doing that instead of working 9-5 on a weekday.

I can't say as I've heard of Mayor Bronco actually saying racers and track enthusiasts aren't the kind of people we want to attract, however - that sounds more like something Ralph Klein might have said (talk about people you don't want to attract!). In any case, 84Stock is right, land outside the city is more likely to suit well - prefererably next door to an airport or established industrial use, so that in 10 or 20 years there's not a subdivision 300m away and demanding the track be shut down so they can hear their neighbours argue thru the open windows in summer! He's also correct that city politico's here tend to be very stubborn - and conflict, rather than consensus oriented - we have more strikes and strife than most cities, owing a lot to arrogant management styles that tend to treat the employees as problems rather than assets, for example.

Syritis

iTrader: (2)

blackfoot motor sports is losing it's land aswell. city says they're too loud..... in an industrial park....
when race city closes. i'll move upto edmonton. take my money to a worthy track.

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

Edmonton has a worthy track?!? Where?