OFFICIAL: Pacific Raceways For Sale

[FireSale]

Although I'm sure the folks in the area have been a pain for quite some time and it's getting to be old for the owners, this is about money and lots of it. That's several hundred acres of commercial zoned land. To convert it to housing wouldn't be the best return for an investor. The Soos Creek people always used the environmental impact of the track as an argument in trying to get it closed. I wonder how many of them keep track of their water use and read the labels on the stuff they dump on the nice green grass?

Disclaimer: Self professed hippie and long time member of the National Wildlife Federation. I compost my years waste and have a worm box for my kitchen scraps.

And a Super Stocker in the garage.

Dale

[Carguy49]

This saddens me, but I am not surprised. It is a matter of economics, and they are doing what they think is best. I am sure funding is a big issue for running a track as big as Pacific Raceways.

The 1st time I ran a car down the fabled track was in 1970. I still go there for many events as a spectator or helper for anyone needing it.

As long as I can remember there has been issues between the track and the property owners surrounding the track.

I won't hold my breath on this one, but I do hope it stays a racing facility for many years to come. We need one drag strip within this area and looks like the others are having issues as well. Ridge Motorsports Park near Shelton still doesn't have a drag strip (hopefully next year?). I have heard that Bremerton Raceway is possibly not going to be around much longer. That has been in the rumor mill for several years, but looks like the Port is taking over quickly with a new road next to the drag strip.

Like I said, I won't hold my breath, but these are decisions out of my hands (and ours), so let's hope for the best in this situation.

[jmcarter]

Too bad the Fiorito family wasn't able to deliver on the track improvements they promised for years (probably not all their fault given the economy) it might have made for bigger allies at NHRA. It would be interesting to see historical attendance figures for the national event. Know they made some updates, many of which were aimed at improving the road track and they sure have the BMW, Porsche, etc car clubs keeping that venue busy but must be tough to make that large of a facility make money year after year.

Hope D6 can keep racing there. Disappearing tracks make for longer tows which hurt everybody.

[Geerhead55]

We recently heard that the issue between the parties involved with The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton has been resolved, and that the earliest the dragstrip could be up and going is 2016.
Bremerton will supposedly start late next season, due to the new "in & out road" getting completed for the future industrial complex rumored to be coming.
Should Pacific sell to a developer, I could see a lot of cars being parked,,, possibly for good. With all that land available, I could easily see hundreds of homes put in and they would all provide a sizable increase in taxes to King county over what a race track must pay,, so I'm guessing theres no incentive for the powers that be to search out a buyer group that would keep motorsports in the area.
The elder Fiorito family members that developed the track in the late 50s and early 60s did us all a great service. This latest generation of the family just wants to wash their hands of the situation and move on. I hope the best for all of us needing a place to play, but we may be rethinking this 'ol pastime of ours in the near future. My 2 cents.
Danny Durham

[SSDiv6]

Let's hope that some of the members of the SOVREN (www.http://sovrenracing.org/) group that race vintage cars, put their money together and buy the track.

The group even puts a muscle car show too.

http://sovrenracing.org/muscle-car-show-new-location/

Many of their members are prominent wealthy people that enjoy having their vintage races at the track. Many doctors, Microsoft and high tech people. The memebership also includes Bruce and Craig McCaw who are owners of vintage race cars too.

Last year Craig purchase a vintage Ferrari 250 at an auction for which he paid 35 Million dollars.

[jmcarter]

Originally Posted by SSDiv6

Let's hope that some of the members of the SOVREN (www.http://sovrenracing.org/) group that race vintage cars, put their money together and buy the track.

The group even puts a muscle car show too.

http://sovrenracing.org/muscle-car-show-new-location/

Many of their members are prominent wealthy people that enjoy having their vintage races at the track. Many doctors, Microsoft and high tech people. The memebership also includes Bruce and Craig McCaw who are owners of vintage race cars too.

Last year Craig purchase a vintage Ferrari 250 at an auction for which he paid 35 Million dollars.

Hope you're right but the Ridge offers the same basic venue; fairly technical and elevation changes with the big benefit of better run-off in case you lose it. I've attended some of their races, incredible old iron with unbelievable collector value out there mixing it up.

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

Hope you're right but the Ridge offers the same basic venue; fairly technical and elevation changes with the big benefit of better run-off in case you lose it. I've attended some of their races, incredible old iron with unbelievable collector value out there mixing it up.

You are correct Jim. The advantage of Pacific Raceways is the closeness to the city of Seattle and airport. The airports nearby don't have commercial flights and the only high end hotel is Alderbrook Resort and Spa.

The last time I attended the vintage races, Vic Edelbrock and his daughter were there with their vintage road racing cars. Carol Shelby was also there. There were some high dollar pieces including several former F1 and Indy cars that were being driven by the owners. When I mean driven, they were out for a Sunday drive in the track, not full bore!