Yet another racetrack gone

I have just learned that Memphis International Raceway has been sold and is closed. It angers me that so many racetracks are getting demolished. For example Metrolina Speedway the home track for the Earnhardt family replaced by a warehouse, Texas World Speedway a 2 mile high banked d shaped oval demolished, Palm Beach International Raceway replaced by a warehouse. It seems as though we are living in the age of the great racetrack demolition.

I guess I should give this a point. Do you have any stories about racetracks that are now gone? Share them!

Memphis may be sold but the buyer can't do anything with the property. The track was built on an old WW2 factory and the ground is heavily polluted.

In reply to Ranger50 :

Well I'm not trying to sound rude but it's kind of odd because I can't find anything on the internet that mentions a factory on the site

We just lost a local track. Western Speedway had its last event last night after 68 years of racing.. 

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

Wow 68 years it always pains me when old tracks close

Unfortunately, not nearly as many people are interested in motorsports as a few decades ago. 

In reply to SpeedwayFan :

Because you won't. I only know from a buddy that lived in the area and knows people.

https://cincyshirts.com/blogs/news/cincinnatis-motor-racing-history

There were a couple of old tracks that were gone by the time I came along but my dad told me stories. 

You can still make out a couple smaller tracks in the area on Google maps. 

I was at Texas world speedway just prior to it being torn down.  It was massive in person.  I couldn't believe it when I watched the lost speedways episode about it that it was already half gone. 

I've seen a lot of little dirt bullrings all over from the side of the road that were being torn down or used for something else in the last decade all over the south.  

It is indeed sad. 

For a time my wife and I lived close enough to Richmond Dragway to drive a distinctly non-street-legal car there on a regular basis.  Made some good memories there, for sure.  I will certainly miss the place.

https://www.dragzine.com/news/richmond-dragway-sold-to-real-estate-development-firm/

We lost our local roundy round track, Columbus motor speedway, a few years back. Replaced by a park. I like parks but it's sad to lose the only in town racing option. We do have mid Ohio just an hour away but that's a different class for sure. 

All you need is a wealthy, well known patron.

North Wilksborough is back, mostly thanks to Dale jr.

Ranger50 said:

Memphis may be sold but the buyer can't do anything with the property. The track was built on an old WW2 factory and the ground is heavily polluted.

Build a race track.  

With Race track closures going all around, I wonder how those new country club style tracks popping up all over Florida are going to be able to stay and make money on memberships for their condo like amenities with those having main access to the race track for HPDE use, while us normal people can't really access those race tracks

I hate seeing racetracks close.  But I do enjoy finding and exploring their remains.

In reply to aw614 :

Memberships are priced to sustain the track, if they need money they'll open up more for public HPDEs and the like as a membership drive.

There's one close to me like that. It's not that fancy but once they had sustainable membership they quit doing HPDEs except for TNiA.

In reply to SpeedwayFan :

In the end Racetracks aren't as popular as they once were.  Kids today don't dream about owning cars, hotrodding cars, racing cars.  
  Cars are just transportation Modules  to be stuck in traffic going someplace. 
     Self driving EV's and until those really happen they will settle for an Uber.   
  Yes there still are us old Baby Boomers but a lot of them are living on fixed incomes.  Millennials are trying to pay off their student loans. GenX 'ers  etc. fail to see the attraction.  
 Attendance  is down while costs are up.  
 

spitfirebill said:

Ranger50 said:

Memphis may be sold but the buyer can't do anything with the property. The track was built on an old WW2 factory and the ground is heavily polluted.

Build a race track.  

EPA will say no.

In reply to frenchyd :

I'd love to write this off as a "man yells at cloud" scenario, but you're exactly correct. General culture has been moving away from cars due to many different factors (a more concious view on climate change, disproportionate increase of cost of living compared to wages, home ownership becomes unaffordable and multi-family units are typically built fast, cheap, and as dense as possible meaning no parking spots, etc.). There's definitely a Gen-Z/Zoomer resurgence in car ownership and enjoyment, but they're more interested in street takeovers and street racing, at least that's what the instagram algorithm tells me. I think street takeovers/street racing would definitely be mitigated with more autocross and HPDE offerings. 

Ranger50 said:

spitfirebill said:

Ranger50 said:

Memphis may be sold but the buyer can't do anything with the property. The track was built on an old WW2 factory and the ground is heavily polluted.

Build a race track.  

EPA will say no.

Many contaminated sites have been repurposed.  

I hate to revive an old thread but there building a warehouse on the site of Memphis International Raceway

z31maniac said:

Unfortunately, not nearly as many people are interested in motorsports as a few decades ago. 

The real problem, IMHO, is that the people who are interested in motorsports want a higher end experience than old tracks can provide.  As pointed out, there are are a lot of new tracks out there, and many of them are membership based.

Heck, looking at pictures of average track days, the kind of cars that show up has gone up scale quite considerably.  

In reply to alfadriver :

well there's no other track out there like the oval at memphis

In reply to SpeedwayFan :

Well, you, as a racing community, should have been willing to pay more to race there.  Since the property was more valuable as a warehouse than it is as a race track.  Or at least convinced all of your community to not get stuff delivered to them instead of going out to shop (since it seems that most new massive warehouses are for on-line sales).

edit- and it's hardly as if the track was some historic place- it opened in 1987.  It didn't attract the big series a track like that should have.

In reply to alfadriver :

It's more about the right crowd and no crowding. When Vintage racing became popular starting in the 1980's  the entry costs were really high because of the value of the cars involved and the cost of race preparing them.  
  Entry fees started at $20 and by the 1990's were up to hundreds of dollars. The older more selective groups had far more entrants than they could deal with. They then started a selection process where provenance became paramount.  Definitely the right crowd and no crowding. 
      Costs soared, and exclusivity with those.  Around 2005- 2010 attendance dropped past the point of profit  and only small open clubs and only a couple of the bigger clubs were viable anymore.  
   That's when private tracks began. That's when the sort of the ultimate "Right crowd and no crowding" really took hold. 
     The wealth really hate it when normal people crowd them. 

In reply to alfadriver :

I really don't get why whenever a track gets demolished it's always a warehouse.

to list a few:

Metrolina

Memphis

Myrtle Beach

Irwindale

Lakeland

Palm Beach