CLASS RACER FORUM - Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

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Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

Quote:

Originally Posted by aspen7709 (Post 365624)

My take is this...I am an EAST valley racer(Firebird is my "home" track) and the racers at firebird will and do travel to Speedworld for select events BUT maybe 10% of Speedworld racers will cross that invisible barrier called th i-17 to race at Firebird. People that live in AZ know what i am talking about. East will go west but WEST WILL NOT GO EAST! The economy has had a devastating effect on the racing community in the valley especially on the west side. Speedworld has always been good to racers but never was able to attract spectators or top shelf attractions. Firebird will survive. Speed world needs new ownership, new events and fresh life put to it to make it. And as for Firebird conditions I have only had problems when I did not call ahead to let them know I was coming with a serious car on a friday night.
Long story short is that for all the concern about losing speedworld the west valley community does not have the funds, dedication, car count or the ability to save it.Plus the current ownership could care less about the Drag part of it(he has made that PERFECTLY clear) and WEST side racers will rather street race on happyvalley road than drive to Firebird...Yes I am talkin to you RAY LEWIS and co.
Firebird is already on the fast track to renovations and Tom Compton himself is involved with making sure Firebird stays open for what thats worth.
Yes I will miss Speedworld but when one door closes another opens. Maybe this will bring the eastside and westside racing communities together.

Kenny Newsome 7709 ?/SA

Fair & accurate assessment! I'm about 45 minutes to either track. I think Firebird will do just fine, maybe even better if they can drag in more cars.
And where on Happy Valley?

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

I hope you guys are right about Firebird staying open. Yes I am a "west side racer" but I have put in many passes at Firebird over the years. It's about the same driving time for me either way. No big deal. Sure hope they do more for the local guys.
And looking at the racer lists for both tracks, you guys are right. I guess I never relized how many racers dont ever go to Firebird. Maybe one race a year.
Get us all togeather at one track and the car count will be great.
So what will the new name be "Gila River Raceway"?

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

Kenny , I live halfway between the two tracks too .The reason I didn't go to Firebird much was traction ...or more specifically...lack of it @ Firebird.
I had a 14 sec. 5.0 Mustang that would repeat to the hundredth all 3 time trials at Speedworld.
Firebird, it was like a John Force burnout .
At Fun Ford about 5-6 years ago, the cars were bouncing off the walls during Saturday night eliminations. They had to pull the plug and do an 8 way split with us.
They worked on the track all night long, but same thing on Sunday.
I had the same problem with a 5000 lb 472 Caddy , there.
There was something bad wrong with that track for the local races.
I hope they fixed it last time around.

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

First time I went to Speedworld was in 1994 for the Div.7 points race. Great race, lost too early and went home too soon.Same thing next year. Last time I went was to a national open in September '03. Got sick there and wound up in the hospital.At least I got a grade point. The thing most noticeable was the continuing onslaught of population growth that is now on the edge of the track,in '94 it was 15 miles away.You know in that area developers and politicians have eyes on that land. Sort of like the movie where Rock Ridge was doing battle against Hedley Lamarr in order just to stay there. In that humorous scenario, the town of Rock Ridge won.This doesn't look so good. The parallel is very similar in the plot for the land,however. I don't have the answer.Mongo only pawn in game of life.

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

Latest 1-17-13 >>>> This will include the NHRA Open on schedule, and the Southwest Nostalgia Drags S/SS combo .March 16th
Please remember what I said about our events.
If we are able to move them across town,
the expense will most likely be higher, so we need your support on this one...I need some inspiration!

********

Hi everyone, I apologize for the lateness of this email, but I just got off the phone with Dan, and it looks very good that we have reached an equitable agreement with the state and county to be able to run Speedworld for the next 4 months. It's not cast in stone yet, but enough was hammered out today that Dan is very encouraged, and that's good enough for me. HOWEVER, there is no question that we will be closing sometime this summer, so if y'all need a Speedworld fix, now is the time to do it.

One thing that will almost certainly have to change is we will have to double up on weekends (with a lot more Sunday races) as part of the deal seems to be that we will get a Special Event Permit good for a certain number of weekends. This means a significant revamp of our event schedule, which will take at least a week, maybe more. I know many if not most of you have made your year's racing schedule out by now, but it will probably have to be adjusted. I'll still try very hard not to schedule on other events, especially Firebird Team Races - that's important to many of you. I will send out another email with the new schedule as soon as possible. For now, the schedule I sent out last week still applies, INCLUDING the National Open weekend!

Dan & I would also like to thank all of you who have called, texted and emailed both of us this past week, the additional encouragement and well-wishes have been a HUGE boost to our spirits (which were pretty damn low the past couple of days, especially for me!) THANK YOU SO MUCH, and see you at the track!

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

Thats good news.

Mark, where are you going to run your events?

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieRacer (Post 365709)

Thats good news.

Mark, where are you going to run your events?

Robbie, I can't release any news yet, but I'm working on it as we speak

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

Here is what I learned at the meeting today.

Bondurant has just signed a one year lease with the tribe. The tribe will only do one year leases, no long term. Bonderant gets their current location plus the other road race tracks on the property which includes the drag strip. The drag strip is a long straight section of one of the road race tracks. This means that to hold a drag race Bondurant will have to give the OK since they now lease it.

Lucas Oil is still in negotiations with the tribe for the lake and the off road course they built. They want a long term lease, but the tribe is not budging from their one year policy. Lucas only wants to have 2 boat drags and one off road race a year. I do not know if this will be resolved.

As far as the drag strip goes there is no new news. A few people were contacted by the tibe to see if they want to run it, but I do not know if anyone has been chosen. Charlie Allen has decided to leave all of the equipment at the strip when the track closes on 4/1/13. That means if someone wants to run it for the tribe it could open the following week. I guess the track will hire some of us to run and staff future events. Who knows!

I will let you know if I hear anything else.

Raul

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

The National Open at Speedworld this weekend is cancelled. According to the Speedworld website, a temporary use permit was not granted.

I guess this will sadly be the end for another track!

Re: Any update on Firebird/ SpeedWorld Phoenix

I just spoke directly to the source @ Firebird .
They are definitely re-opening with a new management team, and perhaps even in an uninterrupted manor.

He asked that you not believe any rumors to the contrary.

That's some good news for The Valley anyway . One drag strip is a lot better than NO dragstrips in a city this large.