New track in Michigan?

[damilt]

The 11 O'clock evening news from WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids just reported that an investment group is looking at building a new race track south of Grand Rapids in Wayland township in conjunction with the new Indian casino going up. They stated they hoped to lure the Craftsman Truck Series to the track when finished.

From the computer generated virtual views it looked to be approximately one mile in length right along U.S. 131 expressway.

[Ackermann]

Probably a stone's throw from Martin 131 Dragway. I hear there's been some money put into the place lately. Hope this is a sign of greater things to come! Wayland is a nice little town.

BTW, have you heard of Gingerman Raceway in South Haven? I saw a sign for it on I-94 near the IN state line. I think I heard that Paul Tracy set a course record there when he drove for Roger Penske. Seems like the Racing Bug is alive and well in SW Lower Michigan!

[NoviVespa]

As far as any new superspeedway being built, I think the chances are nil. Reason, NASCAR, which everybody wants, can only have so many races a year.

But I've read that NASCAR wants to get into the far northeast and far northwest markets.

I always wished that the NASCAR Busch series ran a totally independent series. Yes they run on somespeedways, but with the Winston Cuppers. What I would like to see is that say, NASCAR Nextel run a Sunday race in Spring and the Busch series run in the fall at the superspeedways, also on Sundays.

[FenderFree]

Originally posted by NoviVespa
What I would like to see is that say, NASCAR Nextel run a Sunday race in Spring and the Busch series run in the fall at the superspeedways, also on Sundays.

Me too, but unfortunately for us, NASCAR is too smart to run the Busch Series directly against the Winston-less Cup. The Busch series survives mainly because it runs as a support race to the Cell-Phones-Are-Fun-To-Use-While-Driving Cup.

[MikeT]

&nbsp It seems like just a few years ago I was reading about plans for a paved mile at the Michigan State Fairground which, I think, is near Detroit. IIRC, the plan died off when the people involved came face-to-face with the same realities that NoviVespa described.

[silvercrown]

I think the biggest reasons that Detroit died was that:

1. Locals did not want the noise of the race track near them

2. It is fairgrounds property, and Detroit / Michigan are already broke.

3. Who would race there?

[damilt]

Ackerman - US131 dragway dumped MILLIONS of dollars into thier facility two years ago. If you haven't been there in a while you would not recognize it. It is a first class facility. Basicly dozed everything and started over. Certainly capable of hosting a major NHRA event now. It's a beautiful place.

[Racewriter]

Originally posted by FenderFree
Me too, but unfortunately for us, NASCAR is too smart to run the Busch Series directly against the Winston-less Cup. The Busch series survives mainly because it runs as a support race to the Cell-Phones-Are-Fun-To-Use-While-Driving Cup.

You do know that the Busch series outdraws the IRL by a long shot at Kentucky and Nashville, as standalone races, right? As well as CART at Milwaukee? Oh, and there's PPIR, too...

A one-miler in Michigan might make sense. Trucks would be a natural, and Michigan has been an ASA/ARCA hotbed for years. Flesh out the schedule with a Silver Crown race, and a show or two for the pavement late models (Michigan is full of 'em), and you just might have a winner.

I'm aware of about half a dozen tracks in some stage of construction (from 'paper tracks' to moving dirt) that are in the 3/4 mile to 1-mile range. Big enough to have 'big' events like CTS, but small enough to survive without Nextel Cup. That'll be the next phase.

Of course, they're building TONS of new short tracks. I'm in Kansas City, and within a 100 mile radius of Kansas City in the last three years, there have been five new dirt short tracks built, two more are under construction, and a new pavement short track is scheduled to open March 2005. Funny thing is that all these tracks have managed to find crowds and cars....

[FenderFree]

What I'm saying is that NASCAR wouldn't run the Busch Series on Sundays as a direct TV competitor to the Cup Series. That idea is further shut down by the fact that the NASCAR Cup Series has absolutely no off-weekends in the last half of the season.

[dalz]

Gingerman Raceway is a great little 1.9 mi. club road course about 20 min. east of South Haven. My Formula Mazda team tests there all the time. Yes, I'm sure if PT showed up there with a Penske champcar he owns the track record.

Grattan Raceway, north of Grand Rapids, is another superb 1.9 mi. club road circuit, diabolically hilly. NOT the place to drive with a stomachfull of hot dogs and milkshakes! It is where the car tests took place in Bud Lindaman's old "Car and Track" TV show.

Never been there, but is Waterford Hills raceway still around?

[autoracingfan2]

Originally posted by Ackermann
Probably a stone's throw from Martin 131 Dragway. I hear there's been some money put into the place lately. Hope this is a sign of greater things to come! Wayland is a nice little town.

BTW, have you heard of Gingerman Raceway in South Haven? I saw a sign for it on I-94 near the IN state line. I think I heard that Paul Tracy set a course record there when he drove for Roger Penske. Seems like the Racing Bug is alive and well in SW Lower Michigan!

A friend's dad races at Gingerman a couple of times a year. I've never been there but they said it was nice.