Jump to content

speedway up for auction?


hondonelson

Recommended Posts

It is San Antonio Raceway located in Marion, Texas, that was up for foreclosure auction on the Guadalupe County courthouse today. I understood that it did take place but that there were no bidders so it goes back to the lender who is now free to sell it to me or you or whoever.

 

Nick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A while back, SAR filed for bankruptcy and the word on the street is that they were unable to meet the requirements of the bankruptcy agreement. Thus the auction.

 

Lots of rumors out there about this deal, but the most persistent one is that IHRA will purchase the property for pennies on the dollar and the track will remain a drag strip.

 

I'm hoping Jay Hallas posts with some facts to put all the rumors to rest.

 

Nick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadly I have nothing solid....
Yes, it was up for auction today....
I "heard" there were not any bidders....

It was also "said" that the auction was stopped.....legally.....whatever that means.

Everyone I know from there is still uncertain if they still have a job or place to race...

I had hoped that the IRG Sports and Entertainment group would pick it up like they have several other IHRA family tracks....But I've received no word from my contact at IHRA....

There were a variety of reasons that it was on unstable financial grounds....that I won't go into....I was always treated good whenever I went out there whether it was under the Zampeses or Freddy Cruz...

So that being said we can hope it doesn't turn into another San Antonio tracks destiny.....I just can't believe that a city, of its size, can't sustain any kind of race track.....Boggles my mind....

Guess we add it to the list;
Pan American Spwy(before my time)
Texas Dirt Spwy
Alamo Dragway
San Antonio Spwy(various versions)
I-37 Raceway
San Antonio Raceway maybe I was a bit hasty ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya Jay I've always found that pretty shocking. Then you have a city about 1/3 of it's size running two tracks about five minutes from each other on two different surfaces. I know there's not too much of a drag racing crowd here or at least nowhere to do it legally, last strip I remember being used was Cabinass Field but think the Navy put the kibosh on that one. Guess it's Houston, Ennis, or Edinburgh for drag racers now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya Jay I've always found that pretty shocking. Then you have a city about 1/3 of it's size running two tracks about five minutes from each other on two different surfaces. I know there's not too much of a drag racing crowd here or at least nowhere to do it legally, last strip I remember being used was Cabinass Field but think the Navy put the kibosh on that one. Guess it's Houston, Ennis, or Edinburgh for drag racers now.

lost a good friend on that track a few years back . joe.longoria ..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know there's not too much of a drag racing crowd here

I know of about a half dozen guys that come up from Corpus to SAR now and then.....I'd guess some go to Edinburg since it's a little closer for them, especially if theyre out south or west of town....

 

Then you've got Little River(Temple-Academy), Lonestar(Sealy) and Texas Raceway(Kennedale).....but let's not write off SAR so quickly....

 

I've done some digging, put some bees in peoples ears and there is a glimmer of light.....nothing I can disclose though and certainly nothing concrete(pun intended)....but keeping a positive thought never hurt, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reb i can tell you Sealy is only doing special events and will not a have a bracket program at all. As well as Redline Raceway up in the Dallas area shut down this year. Caprock Motorplex in Odessa changed ownership and will be an outlaw 1/4 track from what I've seen and heard. The deal with Sealy is will mainly be used by Hennessy and their events like TX2k14 last year. IHRA's website still has the Nitro Jam for San Antonio on the schedule so we will see if that changes or not. SAR's website doesnt have any bracket races posted yet and only has wednesday night test and tune posted. I know they are usually one of the last ones to post a schedule compared to everyone else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know some people were saying that they saw a story on one the local SA stations about a "track" closing.....I didn't see it, but what I've seen/read the story was very unclear about anything.....To the point of people thinking it was SAS, not SAR the guy was talking about....He even used the term 'last checkered flag'.....ummmm drag racing doesn't use one of those....Sadly most of those well paid sports commentators couldn't tell the difference between Top Sportsman, Pro Late Model and IMCA Modified....SMDH!

 

....and to think I do what I do for free!!!...lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

SAN ANTONIO NATIONALS POSTPONED; BATON ROUGE ADDED TO 2015 SCHEDULE

NORWALK, Ohio (January 27, 2015) - The San Antonio Nationals originally scheduled for March 13 & 14, 2015 in San Antonio, Texas has been postponed. Replacing that date on the 2015 Nitro Jam Schedule will be the return of the Mardi Gras Nationals at State Capital Raceway, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"Time was simply running out for a resolution that the track could reopen in time to host the San Antonio Nationals in March," said IHRA President Scott Gardner. "Our parent company, IRG Sports + Entertainment, have been in negotiations to purchase the facility for the past six months and are still pursuing the purchase of this facility. The only thing IRG was not able to confirm for us was a final timetable for the transaction, which is why we had to make this change in the schedule. We are optimistic we will return to San Antonio this fall once the ownership and direction of the facility becomes clear."

Professional classes at the Mardi Gras Nationals will include Amsoil Funny Car, Nitro Harley, U.S. Bounty Hunters Pro-Stock, Jet Dragster and exhibition runs of the Fire Force Jet Fire Truck. The sportsman program will be E.T. bracket classes.


"We made a decision not to include the Pro-Am classes at this event namely due to a lack of notice for the Division 4 Summit Pro-Am competitors" continued Peaco. "We have handled a lot of calls from Texas racers regarding the San Antonio date and I really didn't want to throw a venue change at the Division 4 competitors this late in the planning process. I know with the uncertainty of San Antonio's reopening date many racers may have made other plans for that weekend. We will open the Division 4 Summit Pro-Am season at Pine Valley March 27-29 as scheduled. When we return to San Antonio in the fall we will put the event back together and we can give all the competitors plenty of notice on the new national event date."


State Capital Raceway, located in southern Louisiana returns to the IHRA Nitro Jam schedule after a 2 year hiatus. The quarter-mile dragstrip features 660' concrete launch pads, concrete barrier walls, Compulink timing, LED scoreboards and seating for 9,000 fans.


"I'm very thankful that Track Manager Gary Carter called us to offer up a replacement date at the facility. Track owners Lanny and Val Lewis are some of the best people in the IHRA family and they always have the welcome mat out for IHRA. I know the professional racers love the track as it provides a great opportunity to set records with an elevation of a mere 18 feet above sea level," said IHRA Vice President Skooter Peaco.


The IHRA 2015 Nitro Jam season will open February 6-7 at Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson, Arizona.


For more information on the 2015 IHRA Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series schedule and lineup, please visit www.IHRA.com for complete details.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...