Grass-roots efforts to bring SAS back to life under way

[NickHolt]

There is a lot of sentiment being expressed on FaceBook regarding a grass-roots effort, or two, to bring San Antonio Speedway back to life. I wholeheartedly support these grass-roots efforts and have worked closely with similar efforts in the past - and will do so with these two. Count me among those who dream that one day SAS will come back to life in all her glory.

 

When Highway 16 Raceway opened in 1977 ("When the green flag drops, the bullshit stops" was their motto) I was still supporting Ricci Ware's Pan American Speedway on the other end of town, but I was there in the grandstands just to see what all the noise was about. The following season Johnnie Ivy, Bruce Mabrito and I were there with our race car (Hello turn one wall..) Likewise I was in the SAS office under the grandstands in 2007 with several other employees when Terry Dickerson announced his decision to throw in the towel.

 

And, as many of you know, I was directly involved at the track in one capacity or other during the 33 exciting years in between. I won't bore you with that list here, but if you're interested I will share privately with you.

 

Perhaps more to the point, over the past few years I have been directly involved in and, in some cases, worked closely with groups and individuals whose goal it was to rebuild and reopen the track. However, in every case, once the numbers were honestly crunched and all the emotions reluctantly removed from the spreadsheet, the numbers did not lie. In every instance the interested party(ies) backed away from the project since there was no way to show a profit for decades into the future if the place operated as a stock car facility.

 

That's because anyone buying the land and track would face more costs than they would encounter if they built a new facility on some cheap land somewhere else. And that's because back in 2007, the San Antonio Code folks condemned all the infrastructure including nearly all the buildings, the fresh water system, the septic system, kitchen and toilet facilities, the electrical system and much of the wood in the grandstands. The racing surface and ticket booth and scoreboard and a few other incidentals were not condemned, but we all knew that the track subsurface was fast being eroded and that the retaining walls were pretty much being held in place only because each section welded to the next. There wasn't much support left for the supporting posts except in the straights. And the parking lot turned to mud after every rain. And on and on the list went.

 

So, that meant that the new owner would have fund the removal and replacement of all the above infrastructure as well as a state-of-the-art electronics platform to support our data driven world these days on top of actually purchasing the land, building a new scoring / VIP / Press box, building new storage and tech buildings, removing the leaking underground fuel storage tank, purchasing new track lighting, installing a new scoreboard, replacing the scoring loop, etc, etc, etc. in addition to actually purchasing the land.

 

I know that it is tempting to think that a volunteer, grass-roots movement could actually bring racing back to the place. And a few years ago a genuine attempt was made to do just that. But the volunteerism soon waned after a couple of rousing successes and likewise the crowds dwindled dramatically. And while we all hoped for the best, no one on a white horse and saddlebags full of gold stepped up to continue the efforts of the dedicated volunteers who put so much time, effort and hard-earned money into the project.

 

The harsh reality is that its going to take that special person with a genuine love of stock car racing, a ton of financial resources and no need to make a profit to make our dreams come true. If you're that guy or gal, give me a call. I point you in the right direction to get the job done.

 

Nick

[toyotatim]

Race tracks can generate a profit. When was the last time a promoter around here ran a track for a living? The guy in Houston did and it was doing very good. Any business you run has challenges, and a race track does too. To be honest with you, there are lots of people who have multi million dollar boats, ranches and other toys that are money pits. Big deal, it is only money, some have it to burn.

[arob]

Maybe a retired NASCAR driver or two? SAS was a great track. I used to sneak out of work at 5:30 every Sat night a haul a"" from Corpus. Did that for years. If this dream comes true I just hope they rebuild it the same way it was. Same surface, same banking and same dimensions.

[rebelracewriter]

[racer61]

Eventually these folks will see the REALITY of it. It would be cheaper to build another facility then to try to fix that one. Every aspect of it needs a huge amount of dollars thrown at it.

[toyotatim]

It has a good location. The owners realized with the ugly electrical lines there across the property there is not much more they can do with it.

[racer61]

Isnt location what started the demise? Some re-zoning and other city nonsense?

[JamesHigdon]

The location wasn't what started the demise; it was a combination of the cities greed/arrogance and the land owners ignorance.

 

When the city inked the deal for Toyota to build the plant in San Antonio in the late 1990's/early 2000's they agreed to a two mile buffer zone around the plant which wouldn't be zoned for residential developments. As soon as the paint was dry on the Toyota building the city went back on that deal and began to try and develop land around the plant as residential and zoned everything as far south on 16 as they could into the ETJ (extra territorial jurisdiction) of San Antonio. Basically what that means is San Antonio held developmental control over the land and could make money off it but didn't have to provide services to it. Toyotas response to all of this was "fine, what other city wants a Toyota plant?" The city backed down, people went to jail and life went on in the area like it has for decades. The problem was in 2007 Terry Dickerson was willing to buy SAS for a reasonable amount and bringing it up to code but everyone involved with the land saw dollar signs and turned down his offers...they would have made more then they are asking for the property now.

 

The land SAS is on is owned by the same family it has always been owned by; it has always been leased and never was owned by whoever operated the race track (it's a common problem in Texas that has closed a bunch of tracks). The family wanted downright silly money for the track in 2007 when the city figured it would all be homes but now the situation is different.

 

I was approached by a Texas race promoter in 2016 to find out some info on SAS and see what the status of the land was. The news was that the price of the land had dropped significantly, the family was very willing to be reasonable on many issues and some of the other problems with SAS coming back had been addressed. The family and their representative WANT to see SAS be a race track still and are willing to make concessions for that to happen.

 

The promoter I have spoken with is working on funding for his plans for SAS and atleast one other individual is working on purchasing SAS and has made an offer on the land. Additionally there are other efforts being made to bring back SAS but they all face challenges. Nick is right; there are a lot of issues facing SAS but there are also a lot of positive things going for it.

 

1)The representatives for the owners of SAS are now not only reasonable in what they value the land at but are willing to negotiate easements across their other properties for access to utilities if need be (namely access to city sewer lines running to the North West of the track).

 

2) The city may allow the septic system SAS has to be grand-fathered and used without much modification; assuming old documents relating to the system are right it is adequate for the track size. This was a huge cost issues in 2007.

 

3) The majority of the electrical on the property would need to be redone; it needed it in 2007 and it hasn't gotten better.

 

4) New water lines would likely need to be run; they weren't in great shape in 2007 and haven't gotten better.

 

5) Much of the wood in the stands was replaced in 2012; the stands would still need work but the city allowed them to be used in '12-13.

 

6) The press box would need either major work or to be knocked down and rebuild.

 

7) The turns need to be built back up and have the dirt behind the walls replaced. The track could certainly use a repave but it's better then CCS has been in years. For SAS to be perfect it would need large expenditures here and there's no way around that but for it to be racable that's a debatable issue.

 

8) I have been given the impression the old fuel tank removal isn't a huge issue as long as the property was used for what it had previously been used for; the same for the old oil wells on the property.

 

9) That land specifically will not have homes on it for the forseable future. First; it is in the "buffer zone" around Toyota and if Toyota goes away the land isn't worth anything for houses again anyways. Look at how well the other housing developments in that area have done. Second; for that land to be houses major environmental remediation would be needed, well beyond the value of the land.

 

10) The land around SAS will not be houses for the forseeable future; SAS is roughly 1.5 miles from the Toyota property line which means homes won't be going in within a half mile of it anytime soon

 

11) Name any other race tracks that can essentially guarantee no homes will be built around them AND that if there are homes build around them the value of those homes will be nill.

 

I don't see someone leasing SAS and succeeding like many did for years; for it to make sense to spend the money on the track the person spending that money must be the owner. Additionally the owner of the track being the operator means additional capital is easier to come by and wealth is being built as long as the mortgage is being paid. Costs are also lower for an owner-operator as they don't need to insure two parties (the owner of the land and themselves).

 

I would also be very happy to help anyone interested in working toward a future for SAS. I've never made money off the track and don't have and intentions of such in the future; I was simply asked to help and am. I have contact info for the relevant parties and if someone was SERIOUS about the track I'd be glad to help them get in contact with the right people.

 

Nick and I have different outlooks and opinions on SAS as I'm much more optimistic for its future but we do both agree we'd love to have the track back! CTS was running more than 10 cars per class with around 11 classes running per event; those folks all need a place to race now and SAS could be it.

[JamesHigdon]

Racer61; the value of SAS is in its location and it's layout. As stated above there is big value in a racetrack which can guarantee no homes will be built around it. Additionally; where would another track go? Land around San Antonio isn't cheap right now and you'd be VERY hard pressed to find 90 acres for the current asking price of SAS that didn't have it own major issues or the threat of homes around it. As far as layout; look at the big tracks around the country that are drawing decent crowds and they are almost all 1/2 miles; in the past racers have driven from as far as Colorado to race SAS weekly and with the lack of tracks in this part of the country how far would they come from now to race a high-banked half-mile?

[racer61]

Very informative. Its nice to hear actual facts from time to time. I wish them the best but from what Ive witnessed for over 25 years in central Texas, its going to be a long steep uphill climb with more to lose then to gain.

[JamesHigdon]

Racer61; I'm going to go disagree with you on something due to an idea Nick and I have spoken about numerous times. You said any new owner of SAS has more to lose than to gain and that's simply not true if the facility is looked at properly. Nick and I have spoken at length about the idea that for SAS to succeed it can't JUST be a successful short track is has to be a successful entertainment center and if that is done well there is a lot to gain from the facility.

 

Without spending much (or any) more money than it would take to get the track operational SAS could be used for numerous events.

1) A large swap in the vain of Pate or New Braunfels would work well at SAS and I doubt those events lose money as they seem to grow yearly- no such event occurrs in San Antonio or really south of New Braunfels at all.

2) A large outdoor car show like the Texas Roundup or the Texas Lowdown, again those events grow yearly and must be making someone money-again there is no large outdoor car show in San Antonio.

3) Diesel truck events are popular all over the country and while San Antonio has a large number of diesel truck shops and enthusiasts there is no large galvanizing event for them.

4) Rallye Cross is becoming more popular by the minute and while there is (or was) a small-scale event in Austin SAS would make for a great larger scale event which could be run regularly under the SCCA banner in the off-season.

5) Large mudding and off-road truck events have become very popular all over the county and while there are a few rougher events scattered around the area there is no big organized event.

 

San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the country; there are literally dozens of things SAS could be used for that it never has been. Langley Speedway for years has run a successful Wednesday event called "Wacky Wednesday's" where numerous types of automotive silliness happen (look on YouTube). Numerous tracks run off-night and off-season spectator drag and/or racing events and while insurance would obviously be expensive many do it so it must make sense. A large weekly carshow just got shut-down in NW San Antonio and SAS would work well for that on off-nights. For SAS to be successful it would need to draw out numerous different groups and automotive enthusiasts then keep them around for the Saturday night show; other cities do it and other cities make money doing it. Drawing out different types of enthusiasts also draws out different kinds of sponsors; if there was a Hotrod show at SAS maybe Vintage Air would sponsor a sign and if there was a large diesel truck show at SAS maybe TSD sponsor a sign and on and on. SAS is also a prime spot for just the kind of event SWISD ran there last month (the Electrathon) and once you involve students many sponsors SAS has never had (HEB and Toyota Corporate sponsored Electrathon) come to the surface. Diversification of the track could not only make it a viable business model but a profitable one which means there could be a lot to gain there too.

[racer61]

Good ideas, but again, what im saying is the up front cost to the owner/operator to make this successful enough to be financially appealing makes it look less then appealing. HMP super nice facility but closed. Yes it may reopen full time, thats an unknown. CTS seemed to be doing ok with all the extras it did but eventually closed, yes there are other circumstances but on a whole, if it was making plenty of $$$ id have a hard time believing it would still be closed. CCS has had a tough time after opening, closing, opening, closing. Then you have to look at car counts. After all, cars make the place just as much as fans. SAS is a great location for those in central Texas, but how many cars can you pull without having the 8 - 10 class 12 hour days? The last 3 races t sas seen a very respectible car count the first event, less the second and even less the last. The entertainment idea has always sounded good but I was amazed to see that after the new wore off at CTS that the attendance deminished to anemic numbers. I seen many of the local racers yelling at everyone else to support your local track and either were the first to haul ass out of the gate before the evening concert started or never showed for concert only night. When i was growing up in Austin your weekend choices were the movies, bowling, or Longhorn Speedway, its not like that now.Face it, todays average house hold isnt as interested in sitting in the Texas heat for too things when they can watch it on the phone while driving down the road. lol Even the mighty COTA is suffering for attendance.

 

Im not trying to say Im against it, Im just dont see it being a attractive investment for the type of person it would take to make it happen. Not saying impossible, just not good odds of success.

[arob]

You don't need the 8-10 class 12 hour days. All you need is Charger, Street Stock , Trucks, Pro-Mods and Late Models. Fewer classes can bring back heat races giving the fan more than one look at their favorite classes. Making the features shorter laps (25-30) would allow heat races to be run.

[RodneyRodriguez]

I love this idea and would support SAS or any other track operating. SAS if this happened would have to be multi purpose. Some good people spent lots of time and money a few years back in a grass roots effort and man what a hell of an opening that was ... then all the racers and fans thought it closed again because nobody showed up.

 

For sure would have to be someone looking to invest and try to make lemonade with lemons because it will not survive with the cost of racing now... and starting already in the red. As much as the CTS concept of music, events, fairs and racing was ridiculed it is needed. We here in south central Texas don not live in a racing hot bed.

 

Again I am all for any effort and ready to help and nor trying to be Debbie Download but I would throw the eggs in the HMP basket and get it all back on track then hope for competition.

[rebelracewriter]

 

You don't need the 8-10 class 12 hour days.

 

Hallelujah!

[RodneyRodriguez]

Right on Reb.. CTS did that to allow everyone to have an outlet to race. No bueno a "regular" show does not need to be all day, and most of the prior day for that matter.

[JamesHigdon]

I couldn't agree more; 3-4 classes at most maybe 5 if there's a ton of interest in something else. You don't have to eliminate classes; just merge the creatively and racers would do what they do-race.

[JamesHigdon]

Racer61; you have to give parents a reason to bring their kids to the race instead of letting them sit at home playing on the IPad. For the life of me I can not figure out why tracks don't have a playground that sits in a place where you can watch the kids and the track at the same time! The bounce house at CTS was golden; my 4 year old niece still asks every weekend if we're going to the races with the bounce house, she'd be there every weekend along with her parents, grand parents and aunt/uncle. Involve the kids, have activities for kids and the parents will gladly take them to the track. Any track that has rambunctious toddlers sitting bored in the stands is a track it making all the money it could because some parents have their kids at home.

[arob]

Texana Raceway Park in Edna has two great ideas in play for kids. One is picking 4 kids and they get to green flag the start of each feature.The great one is the school bus ride around the track. I tell ya the cheapest thing to do would be build a hill . Kids would be running and rolling up and down the thing all night long! Years ago CCS had a playground with an attendant. Worked well for a couple of weeks until from what heard a crying kid would go to a parent in the stands and the parent would come down and get on the attendant for not watching the kids. If I remember right they started requiring a parent to stay with their kid.Didn't last long after that.

[NickHolt]

I believe that SAS can rise from the ashes and become the crown jewel of Texas short track racing once again.

 

I am working with all legitimate interested parties and have had LONG phone calls with the land owners. I can tell you that the majority of the group that own the track property are all for selling and are very willing to work with legitimate potential buyers.

 

They tried the "grass roots" approach via a special arrangement a few years back and as we all know, it worked great for a race or two, but it didn't take too long for folks to realize that volunteers are not able to contribute time, effort and money indefinitely.

 

My most recent conversation with the landowner was today, so this information is fresh.

 

Nick

[toyotatim]

Catering to the kids will insure you go broke. Cater to the people who spend money like it is nothing. People with kids dont spend money, they are looking for something cheap to occupy their kids and saving for their education, cars etc. Catering to kids and the back gate will break a race track faster than Trump can piss off Rachel Maddow

[Brad]

So the city will allow racing there again?

Brad Bush

[JamesHigdon]

I'm going to wait to reply to Toyotatim until I can figure out if he was being serious and ignorant or just silly and not funny.

 

As far as what Nick said, we agree again as I had a very positive conversation with the land owners earlier today as well and I'm now more sure than ever that one way or the other SAS will see better days in its future than it's past. Again; I intend to make no money off this and just want to help so anyone is welcome to contact me anytime. There are a few people that have expressed interest in the track that where held off by one issue or another that may have recently been addressed so if anyone is reading this that was in that situation now is a good time to rethink being involved with the efforts at the track. I would have little pause in contributing whatever you can to the efforts at this point, in the meantime I hope everyone and their freeloading kids come to HMP, thanks.

[JamesHigdon]

So the city will allow racing there again?

Brad Bush

The city never didn't allow racing there; in '07 the city basically condemned everything on the property in a thinly veiled attempt to make putting homes in the area around the track (and where the track is) more likely. Now that Toyota has firmly put the city down the city is open to different uses for the area. The city makes very little money off an abandoned race track and a functioning race track doesn't hurt industrial or business park development in the area. The Electrathon also provides a bridge to show the city that SAS can contribute to the greater good and things the Reeh family did related to the Electrathon make efforts to return racing to SAS much more palatable to the city.

[Josh42]

If you don't cater to kids or families how do you expect to keep fans in the stands? How do you expect to get new racers?