debwill Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 Those of you who attended the Oktober'FAST' races last Saturday night may have noticed an extra photographer at the track. The guy was a photographer from the San Antonio Express-News, and he was taking pictures to accompany an article that will be appearing in a couple of weeks. I understand the article will address Toyota's interest in motor sports and the future of San Antonio Speedway. The media has been in contact with Toyota to see if their presence in San Antonio will have a positive or negative impact on SAS. I don't have any of the specifics yet, but I will let you know what I find out. The article is scheduled to appear around October 19, and hopefully I'll be able to share more information on TSZ before it hits the local papers. In the meantime, things are being handled "as usual" for next year's racing activities, e.g., schedules, appearances by visiting series, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direct-flo Posted October 9, 2003 Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 That would be a great deal for SAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted October 10, 2003 Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 Well there's two ways to look at this, one positive, one negative. The positive one has Toyota becoming a major sponsor for the track, being in their backyard and inputs mega-bucks to increase purses, etc. Plus with all the employees, many take up racing at SAS. The negative has people moving in the area and complaining about noise, dust, etc. and getting the city/county to put so many sanctions on the place it can't stay open. This scenerio is playing out/has already played out at several tracks. IE; Shady Oaks(closed), Battleground(10PM curfew), Kennedale Spwy. Park/Cowtown Spwy. complex(mid-night curfew), Texas Thunder Spwy.(being saved under grandfather clause right now) and probably countless other that I haven't heard about. I'd bet there were many calls after the THR marathon a couple weeks ago from the trailer park denizens. As I recall ALL tracks in Wisconsin had an 11PM curfew, so it's not just a Texas issue. Sad to say but the image portrayed to many government officials about racers/racing is not a good one when all they need do is watch a NASCAR race/post race show or the news headlines. I believe someone was on their soapbox about this after the Sauter/Kenseth, Harvick/Rudd incidents just recently. But hey, what do I know....... LMAO Hopefully with Toyota getting into NASCAR, the first option will be their choice. JMHO and ya get what ya paid for. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 10, 2003 Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 You are right, Rebel. Texas came close to having a noise ordinance that would have killed racing, thanks to our friend in Seguin. (Ed Kuempel) He wanted a noise ordinance that made a decibel level of --55-- a criminal mischief offense. We talk louder than that. On top of that, urban encroachment is a threat to any track. You can have a track 15 miles from anyone, but then some idiot will build a housing tract next door, and more idiots will move in. They start complaining about the noise, dust, traffic, etc. You don't have to know squat about politics to know which side virtually any city or county governing body will back. One race track, which will produce x number of dollars in tax revenue for the city or county, or a few hundred homes, each being taxed a whole lot of dollars, bringing in a lot more than the track. They won't give a damn about that racetrack. As an example, there are approximately 350 homes in my subdivision here in Schertz. Combining City, County, School, etc, taxes, and averaging taxes per home, the residents of this one neighborhood pay well over 1 1/2 million dollars per year in property taxes, and our rates aren't really that high. Lets' not even get into resident's income taxes, sales taxes, etc. If SAS was in Schertz since 1977, and my neighborhood was built right next door, (built starting in 1997,) could SAS produce a million plus a year in taxes? Not even close. We already know which way Govt. would go. They will be looking at that 30 or 50 acres of land that race track is on, and calculating how many more houses will fit there. More houses, more money. Kyle has a trailer park to deal with now. But the next time you are there, look out to the east of that trailer park at the housing going up. In 5 years, they will be at Kyle's back door. Think 96 decibels at 100 feet is hard to obtain?? Just wait........ Rebel- Since you're familiar with Wisconsin racing, here is something that might interest you. You remember Hales Corner Speedway? Was there for a bunch of years. Was closed this year to build a home inprovement store. Which one, you ask? How about a "Menards". Yes, the same Menards that sponsor big time racing--IRL, ASA, USAC-- all of which are on T.V. Big Corporate Sponsor Menards helped close small-time local racetrack. There is something to wonder about...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HORSEPOWER Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 Did they have an article release yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 Here is an article that appeared October 17. Toyota Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HORSEPOWER Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 Interesting article, thanks txtom. Is there residential homes around Houston Raceway Park? I thought the last time I was there I saw several houses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLegend96 Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 txtom, That was a good article by the San Antonio newspaper. Much to my surprise it showed the corporate side of things, the speedway's side of things, and the racer's side of things. It brought up some issues that were important to each party. Good opinions and views from all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildRacer5 Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 only really good thing becoming out of this is that SAS has been getting alot of PR in the local media. If the track ever needed to be "involved" with the city as a destination venue, now is the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 Everyone knows my take on politicians-----they, like weathermen, are the only two professions to get paid six-figure salaries to lie to us, then expect us to believe the next words out of their mouths!! HP, yes HMP is and has been surrounded by homes since I moved to H-town in 84. txtom, yes I heard of Hales Corner, mainly a midget track as I recall or am I thinking about Angel Park? The one disturbing comment that stood out in that article was from the lady that actually owns that property. But then there's that screwy 99 year land/lease deal to contend with also. Guess we'll all just have to wait and see!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt5858 Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 Why would they have to have a noise ordinance? If you cant take the noise dont buy a house in that area. You would almost be stupid to build a neighborhood in that area. NOBOBY would want to buy. I think it would be great to see Toyota team up with SAS. They could really fix it up. (For Example) new walls, repave the track & infield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacecar Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 Why were houses built and sold near the San Antonio Airport? Why do people live near the airport area? As the comedian Ghallagher once quipped, the housing around airports should be reserved for deaf people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedracer Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 There is actually a housing subdivision close to where i live (cant remeber the name of it) but the street names are like Earnhardt Ave., Waltrip Lane etc... Maybe those developers should consider subdivisions like that around race tracks. That way your sure to attract the kind of people who don't care about race car noises. LOL!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-Crew Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 Never forget the difference between genius and stupidity is genius has limits.. People are and will continue to be fundamentally stupid with regard to where they choose to live. For example: building a house below the spillway level on lake Travis or on a bruch covered hillside in Califoria. It wasn't too many years ago that residents around the old Austin airport complained about noise and had the goverment come in and add soundprooofing insulation to their houses. Tell me who was there first, the airport or the house.. It doesn't matter which track you look at some things you can count on for the future will be: Noise limits (muffler rule) Curfews (no racing past 11:00 PM) Increased attention to enviromental impact (hazardaous waste disposal, hazardous exposure for fans and crew - noise, pollutants, dust, etc.) There was a comment made about site cleanup for SAS should the land be leased for something else, that is a real concern. PR is seldom all bad even if it is superficially negative. The best thing that can happen is for the track to act as a partner and be willing to negotiate as the issues come up. That will mean the racers have to be willing as well to go along with the rules and not blame the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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