KELLY83 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 Did they have the meeting lastnight in Austin about the new tracks to be built in TX? If so... which city(s) will they start in? I heard they were to announce 4. If anyone knows... don't hold back info... let us know. Kell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckman Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 THE NEW TRACKS WILL BE IN HILLSBORO,VERNON,SEALY,AND NACOGDOCHES.TWO 5/8 MILE & TWO 3/4 MILE TRACKS.ALSO TWO DIFFERENT CLASSES OF CARS ONE LIKE ASA & ONE LIKE BUSH CARS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KELLY83 Posted February 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 Wow.... not really what I expected at all as far as the locations. Nacogdoches? KInd of close to home. Looking forward to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 where are the racers coming from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 too bad they dont plan to build a track in cc either :*( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daffynmark Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 Yeah Hillsboro! No offense to the dirt track racers out there but...I grew up watching the asphalt short tracks in the Southeastern U.S. and that is where my heart is. Since Hillsboro is only about 45 minutes from home I am really excited about that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 Did anyone actually attend the Texas TracGroup meeting on Tuesday? I was going to go but got iced in. I'm surprised they didn't cancel the meeting due to the weather... I'm with Jason.. I wonder where the cars and race teams will come from? I know of a couple of old Busch cars around but I bet there aren't more than a handful in the whole state. And there are probably even fewer ASA cars in Texas. Nick Holt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 Most of the teams will probably come out of the current ROMCO teams. This will do nothing but spread things thin. Don't get me wrong, I want the new tracks. I just wish they were more around the 1/2 to 3/8 mile range and ran late model type cars and not tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KELLY83 Posted February 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 They're going to have weekly shows right??? I want to be able to take my TANK of a '75 monte carlo and get it on a 3/4 mile track and see how fast I can go before it falls apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 This is what was emailed to me today. Kathy For release Feb. 26, 2003 For more information, contact Chuck Licata at (512) 736-8230 Four Texas sites for Texas TracGroup named The first four communities to host a Texas State Auto Racing (TSAR) race track were revealed Tuesday, Feb. 25 at a press conference held at the Austin Convention Center in Austin. Donald Teague, Chairman of the Texas TracGroup, announced that Hillsboro/Hill County, Vernon, Sealy and Nacogdoches will be the sites of the first four race tracks for TSAR. Teague also said Texas TracGroup will run two racing series - the Champions Series and the Trophy Series - at each of the four tracks. The group hopes to start racing in May of 2005.The racing purse for each series is expected to be in the range of $300,000 per race. The event was emceed by Michael Primrose of the Texas TracGroup, which is based out of Austin. Panel members for the conference included Teague; Chris Engen, who's in charge of Motor Speedway Construction; Steve Farmer, the National Sales and Marketing Director for USAC; Steve Turner, who's in charge of TSAR Car Design and Specifications; and Wally Dallenbach, Jr., the former NASCAR race driver who is in charge of Race Track Design and Racing Sponsorships for the Texas TracGroup. Dallenbach currently lives on a ranch just outside of San Antonio. Other guests of the Texas TracGroup who attended the event included Wally Dallenbach, Sr., Paul Dallenbach, and Paul White, the defending USAC Silver Crown Champion who lives in Temple. Also present was Chuck Licata, the host of The Motorsports Zone on KVET-AM 1300 in Austin and local track announcer. Officials from each of the four communities were on hand despite the inclement weather that kept a lot of race fans and drivers away. Hillsboro/Hill County and Sealy will each build a 3/4-mile, paved asphalt track, while Vernon and Nacogdoches will construct a 5/8-mile paved asphalt track. Wally Dallenbach, Jr. will have a hand in the design of each track, just as Jack Nicklaus gives input on the design of each golf course constructed by his group. The cars in the Champions Series will resemble those that currently run in the ASA racing series while the cars in the Trophy Series will resemble those found in NASCAR's Busch Series. The series is designed to give drivers at local race tracks across the state of Texas the opportunity to race "at the next level" here in their home state. Currently, any successful driver at the local level has to leave Texas and run in a race series in the Midwest or East Coast to move up in racing classification. Teague said that 2-4 more tracks are planned by the Texas TracGroup sometime soon after the original four tracks are built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 Kelly,(wall killer) On a 3/4 mile track you had better leave THOSE walls alone(killer walls)!!! LOL When I was on the Motorsports Zone radio show, I spoke with Mr. Primrose and he stated that weekly racing was part of their long term plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 If you have a purse of $300k then you will definatly have a car count. Only problem is that you have to come up with $300k first. I hope these guys suceed and build a track down in the corpus christi area! Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 Jason, I'm having trouble figuring out how this Texas State Auto Racing (TSAR) deal is going to happen. Who is putting up the money to build these tracks? It takes lots of money to build a first-class racing facility of the type the Texas TracGroup is proposing. Where would the cars come from? It would take at least 240 new cars to make this deal work. 30 cars per class with two classes equals 60 cars per track. With 4 tracks that would be 240 cars. Right now there are about 30 ROMCO regulars. I can't imagine Saturday night race teams suddenly coming up with enough money to field an ASA or Busch car. I suppose they could take out loans to build cars since the purses will be huge. But that brings up another question. Where will the purse money come from? $300,000 is worth racing for, but the front gate sure isn't going to cover that amount. That's 10,000 paid admissions at $30 a ticket. 20,000 fans at $15 a ticket. Which brings me to yet another question. Where will all these spectators come from? It's one thing to fill Texas Motor Speedway once (or, hopefully, twice) a year for a Cup race, but quite another to fill the stands for a Saturday night show in Vernon or Sealy. Now, don't get me wrong. I hope this deal really takes off. I guess I'd feel a whole lot more optimistic if I knew there were a Texas billionaire with a huge love of stock car racing behind all this... Nick Holt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KELLY83 Posted February 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 Nick... I could be wrong.... but the way I read it is that there will be 2 touring classes. Not 2 classes at each track every night. So hopefully there will be 30 cars in each making 60 total. If ya get 20 cars that would even be awesome if it means newer and better tracks in the state. I would like to see each track have weekly racing with classes such as pure stock/modifieds/hot stock/late model etc.. (or something like that). But I read it as if the 2 classes (asa type and busch type) will be a touring series. I guess we'll have to wait for more clarification. Regardless... I hope it works out somehow. I too wonder who comes up with the money to get this kicked off. If it works, hopefully these will be more tracks for ARTS, Winston West maybe?, ARCA, ASA, USAC, maybe something like the Featherlite modifieds? If one or 2 turn into awesome tracks and they add seating maybe even a Nascar truck race. I'd hate to see NASCAR get so involved that they "take over" the track and only allow thier sanctioning body to have races or just make it tough on others. It would be awesome if it the money is available and the different sanctions could get along. Hopefully we will get more information over the next couple months that will be music to everyones ears. I'm sure things are already in the works. I'm just thankful these people are trying to give Texas some quality facilities and a number of them at that! If someone has some reliable information please don't hesitate to share it with us. Kell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckman Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 THE TWO CLASSES WILL BE TOURING CLASSES,AND I BELIEVE STEVE FARMER WAS ALREADY WORKING WITH USAC,THEY ALSO SAID SOMETHING ABOUT LEGENDS.THE TWO TOURING CLASSES WOULD RUN EACH TRACK 3 TIMES(SCHEDULE MAY CHANGE) ONE OF THE CLASSES WOULD BASICLY BE AN ASA CHASIS WITH A SPEC ENGINE INSTEAD OF A SEALED ENGINE SO THE ASA GUYS COULD JUST SWAP OUT THE ENGINES TO RUN.NICK I HOPE THIS INFO HELPS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 Two touring series with tracks built especially for those series sounds more reasonable than trying to run each track every Saturday night with two classes of cars that are not readily available in Texas. But then I got to wondering... Why build new tracks when these two touring series could run on Texas tracks that are already built? And then I got to wondering what would happen to the ROMCO SLM series if two new competing series come on line. And what will they do with 4 new tracks that are only going to be used 3 or 6 times a year? Develop local classes like those already running in Texas? Would that mean that SAS, Thunder Hill, CC and Red River would be forced to close? And what about this. In order to insure a full field at touring series event, it takes about double the number of cars you would expect to show up at a racing event to be registered with the series. That's because accidents, blown motors, money problems, family events, etc. keep about half the teams away at any given night. So let's say they need about 30 cars to put on a decent show on these longer 5/8- and 3/4-mile tracks. That would require more than just the 60 (or30 if just one class runs) race teams that show up that night. They would need nearly double that number to keep the series healthy. So, that means they would need about 120 teams total. I'm full of questions, no? LOL Again, I guess I'm just trying to figure out how this might work. My heart is telling me that this is the best thing since sliced toast, but my brain is asking a LOT of questions. Nick Holt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 You would think they would build some tracks more south than what they have planned if they want to get racers.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Racer Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 It would seem to me that building closer to DFW would be the better move since all they have up there is dirt and alot of interest in NASCAR. I would be willing to bet that the Metroplex could support 2 tracks. Maybe not two like this new group is talking about, but one 3/4 mile and one 3/8 mile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 Has any other group in the US made this kind of thing work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 Where were all these guys over the past 10 years when at times our current tracks were strugling to survive? Sounds like they want to kick them to the curb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daffynmark Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 Waco Racer: Hillsboro is centrally located between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Austin. Possibly the draw of both metro areas coupled with the lower property cost and possible tax break from Hill county might have helped make the decision. Who cares! Let's just all hope flies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97car Posted February 27, 2003 Report Share Posted February 27, 2003 Jason, sorry but we are 3 hours too far south here now. The majority of the racers in the state are in the North Texas area. Up there they could draw from Oklahoma,Louisianna,Colorado,Arkansas and New Mexico a lot easier,then they could down south.Yes I know it seems like CC has more cars than SA,or did years ago,but most of the other areas mentioned are more densly populated also. I do think Sealy and Nacogdoches are a little close together though. Tracks like these will have to be that far out pretty soon the way things are going. I don,t totally agree with anymore spec racer classes like the late model type class they are talking about for the tracks. I wish them luck,that kind of purse is unheard of in Texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierDaddy Posted February 28, 2003 Report Share Posted February 28, 2003 Why dont they just help improve the tracks we already have. Or maybe just build one new track and put that money into ROMCO and help make the series bigger. I'd like to see a quarter mile something like Anderson Indiana or a half mile like Five Flags. That a way ROMCO would have one more track to race on and have some more money pumped into the series. To me watching super latemodels is much better than watching tanks run for 3 hours. And I agree with Bandit, where were these people when our tracks have been struggling in the past nine or ten years? I would stilll kinda like to see this thing work but I dont know how it will with all the money there talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Racer Posted February 28, 2003 Report Share Posted February 28, 2003 Cindy, I am familiar with Hillsboro, I grew up near Lake Whitney. I was just thinking that they should draw from a brand new market rather than an existing one. I would hate to see any current paved track suffer from a new one being built. I think that there will be plenty of dirt racers convert to asphalt in the Hillsboro/Metroplex area. We have 2 dirt tracks in Waco, 1 in Killeen, 1 in Ennis, and 2 in Kennedale. I would think that just the converts from these tracks would mostly fill a weekly show in Hillsboro. That is if they have a weekly show and they don't have too many classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisFrost Posted February 28, 2003 Report Share Posted February 28, 2003 I just can't see a weekly show working on a 3/4 mile track. Maybe on the 5/8 mile tracks. I have been on the Memphis 3/4 mile track and it is a lot bigger than you would think. The cars would get really spread out, and not much racing, unless there were at least 30 to start with. Kris Frost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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