97car Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Ok now that I have your attention other then the fact the track is not in operation how come no one has mentioned that the exit to highway 16 south at I35 has been moved? I went out that way last week to hit 410 and found myself in the wrong lane. Yes I know that makes me old and set in my ways, but I am programmed to be in that left lane to go south there. This is kind of like how I30 to I 35 used to be in Fort Worth before they redid the highway if you was in the left lane heading west on I30 you was going to Waco whether or not you wanted to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwmbishop Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Aw jus go to corpus and flip a ueey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 That whole part of town is one failed construction project; every time I'm down that way I see one more "improvement" that makes little to no difference. I had to make a run down to pick-n-pull a few weeks back and was amazed that highway 16 between 410 and the track actually looked WORSE than the last time I was down there. I drove by the track in a shallow hope that the hype around here a few months back had come to something and saw a sign for "Speedway Industrial Park" or something like that on the property. I hope the city employees that were involved in the debacle that shut the track down live out there and get to look at all the squalor that has popped up due to their hard work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenny66 Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Wonder if Red McCombs would throw some $$$ at SAS. Hell, he's funding the F1 track in Austin and picked up the tab for Rick Perry's inaguration party. 2 million would have done alot for SAS. Just saying. Lenny66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dano36 Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 I agree Lenny but Mr. McCombs is a very wise investor and I am sure he studied what happened with SAS versus the F1 plan for Austin before he made his investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 I doubt SAS was even on Red's radar, who would have approached him? If someone like McCombs or Ancira were involved the way to city dealt with the situation would have been a lot different...the way the situation went down I wouldn't be sure any major "supporting sponsors" where even contacted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usra43 Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 It's just way too much to get that track going on it's feet again. Unless someone or an investor had a few million to play around with then something could happen. One person i could think of that would look into it would maybe be Jesse James. He's slowly closing the doors on west coast choppers, (says local media), in california and has moved to Austin, Tx for good. He now own's Austin speed shop and is or was a late model racer and raced figure 8. If only it was brought to his attention, i'm sure he would be interested in owning the fastest track in Texas! Someone like that is what will get it back running and wouldn't be concerned about making a profit. Just the joy of it. And this man loves excitment and adreneline by far! LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Red McCombs has been contacted more than once in the past several years. His basic answer is no to racing in San Antonio. Remember, he was involved very quietly in local racing many many years ago, before SAS opened. So he is not uninformed. If Jesse James was interested in opening a local track, I would have to figure he would have done something with Longhorn in Austin before the big split with Sandra, who is actually the owner of the property, and has it now for sale through a third party in her management group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyRodriguez Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 if anyone is looking to buy 16 or Longhorn, I would gladly represent them in the purchase at a very reduced rate to get this deal(s) done. If anyone is interested please send me a PM and if the financial backing is there I will go to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 I guess thats ok about his basic answer to racing in San Antonio being no and dumping his money in Austin...we'll continue to buy all of our Ford parts from Austin dealerships. I'm getting very weary of spending my money with names that made all their money in San Antonio and see fit to spend it on sports franchise and facilities in other cities. As far as I'm concerned Benson and McCombs could be doing business in southern Nigeria. We make a point of spending our business and personal money with the few local businesses that DO support San Antonio and South Texas sports, sports figures and sports facilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtRacer9s Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Not sure what it means but the for sale sign is no longer up at SAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racecar25 Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 it dont mean shit.....thugs probably took it. grrrrrrrr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruger71 Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 not to start any rumors but me and heil got the cops called to us the other day by the owners son for walkin around the track to check out how bad of shape its in and he told us that nobody has even looked into buying the place but then the cop asked if its gonna be opening back up and he said that something is in the works but he is keeping his mouth shut until something for sure happens. he also asked us how the track would do if he was to open the place back up. the for sale sign was still up when this happened about 2 weeks ago. he also said he wasnt going to sell the property to anyone that had the intention of tearing the track down.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Sounds like it could be...good news...I may trespass on the place just so I could tell him how much support there would be if the track came back around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruger71 Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Sounds like it could be...good news...I may trespass on the place just so I could tell him how much support there would be if the track came back around! better be careful..he did have a rifle slung over his shoulder when we first saw him lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Jake, so how bad was the track/facilty..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruger71 Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Jake, so how bad was the track/facilty..... the track itself isnt that bad. there are some places where stuff is growing up through the asphalt but its way out of the groove. the wall going into 3 is layed over pretty bad. there isnt a single wire left in the place. all of the buildings under the grandstands are pretty bad. they tore the window units out and when they did they took most of the wall with them. they took the tin off of the roof of the bathrooms and even took the toilets. its a mess under the bleechers. the grandstands are in pretty good shape aside from the trees sticking up through them 5 feet at the bottom. the windows in the scoring tower are all shot out but we didnt get to go inside the tower cause thats when we got ran out by the owners grandson. he told us we better get out of there before his dad shoots us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Jake, so how bad was the track/facilty..... the track itself isnt that bad. there are some places where stuff is growing up through the asphalt but its way out of the groove. the wall going into 3 is layed over pretty bad. there isnt a single wire left in the place. all of the buildings under the grandstands are pretty bad. they tore the window units out and when they did they took most of the wall with them. they took the tin off of the roof of the bathrooms and even took the toilets. its a mess under the bleechers. the grandstands are in pretty good shape aside from the trees sticking up through them 5 feet at the bottom. the windows in the scoring tower are all shot out but we didnt get to go inside the tower cause thats when we got ran out by the owners grandson. he told us we better get out of there before his dad shoots us. Thats what I've seen the few times we've been out/by there. The surface itself looks mostly intact but the anicilaries are rough...but they where rough when the track was running! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 The grandstands are still fairly solid although many boards need to be replaced. The track is raceable in the sense that the groove has not been overtaken by vegetation. And, yes, the basic infrastructure (plumbing, septic, electric) will have to be completely redone and many of the buildings are beyond repair. But there is even a larger problem developing. The foundation material for the turns is slowly eroding. Some of the walls have already given way and it won't be long before sections of the upper track in turn 3-4 will become unstable. If the track is to be saved, it has to happen pretty quickly. While the once-proud lady can be rebuilt, it will take someone with a huge love of racing and lots of money and no need to recoup the money it would take to git er done. I keep hoping. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHigdon Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 I keep hoping. Nick Me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roosterracing Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 ME THREE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwmbishop Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Unfortunately the reality is that no ONE can bring her back to life. It will most likely take an investment group. The problem is how much money would have to be placed into capital improvements - caps take too long to return cash for one investor to absorb the risk of operating profit(loss). Caps are recovered either over life of mortgage or on transfer/sale. Utilizing a group allows the operating risk to spread across several portfolios. Unless one investor just happens to have 6 mil or so sitting around unused - and the folks that have that much DON'T let their cash sit stagnant - so banks are involved and banks want to see at least 40% of operating and 20% of capital expenses available in cash. And thats with a STRONG credit line. A motivated promotor/organizer COULD theoretically put together a group of investors to fund - and lease to the promotor, but that places the burden of seed money (for engineering, civil and other reports) on to the promotor/organizer. Those reports needed to attract the investors can easily cost over 300K - lost if the deal does not come through. AND rumor has it the dems want capital gain tax to be same as ordinary income - so there would be less incentive for someone to tie up their cash for 15+ years in capital improvements. We will have to see what comes off the hill this session/year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeReininger Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 BUMP ^^^ I just figured this thread needed to be reread to remind us of how not that long ago everyone was wondering if it could happen and how many said it will never happen. Brian and Chris made it happen, with help from a number of people. Sit back and reflect on how you felt when it closed. Maybe stop telling them how to make it better for "you". Or how they should run it. Who should be featured. Blah blah blah. You had your chance to open it and didn't. They did. Enjoy it while you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tator Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 BUMP ^^^ I just figured this thread needed to be reread to remind us of how not that long ago everyone was wondering if it could happen and how many said it will never happen. Brian and Chris made it happen, with help from a number of people. Sit back and reflect on how you felt when it closed. Maybe stop telling them how to make it better for "you". Or how they should run it. Who should be featured. Blah blah blah. You had your chance to open it and didn't. They did. Enjoy it while you can. I couldn't agree with you more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevyfan Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Maybe the ones throwing all the suggestions would get away from keyboard and open a toolbox to either fix , build or jus buy a car to race , we might not have gotten a notice like that , jmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.