Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anything?
 

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

You sure he wasn't talking about the 600 Mini track, Circus City (formerly Miami County) Speedway? It's north of Bunker Hill in Peru, but they redid some wall and fence stuff in the summer and just removed the old grandstands to put in new ones last week.

Bunker Hill Drag Strip and Speedway were both owned by the same person and were at one time listed together, but the drag strip sold on its own and now they are owned by two different people. The drag strip is once again listed for sale by the new owner, but the previous owner and current owner of the speedway still has the oval track listed for sale I don't think any work is currently being done there. The wall remains intact, a common misconception because of how tall the grass is and how the track was cut into the ground, so there isn't a need for extensive wall work. It's one of the few things the track doesn't sorely need.

Although how cool would it be to see old Bunker Hell opening back up?

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

:8:No. He said the old dirt track at Bunker Hill.

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

Well I can assure you he was mistaken, because it still sits dormant with nothing done to it.

Circus City on the other hand, located in the same county, has had extensive work done to it and just tore down the bleachers last week.

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

12 miles from Kokomo. if someone is working on that track, they need their head examined :10:

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

It's really not all that crazy. Bunker Hill always did fine and had a strong cult following. The problem is that a promoter would build it up and then the owner would demand more money each race night to lease it. When it was established he would end their lease and then put his own people to work running it back into the ground. It offers an experience you can't get at any other track in the area. At one point it was running afternoons on nights Kokomo would run and drawing 100+ cars each week.

There are three nights a week for races and one of them is pretty wide open in the area right now. Past that, over 80% of Kokomo's attendees come from hours away because local fans could take or leave the sterile environment. It works great for them, but there is absolutely room for another track in the area if promoted properly.

That said, it would never work as a sprint car track. But as a stock car track with mods at the helm, it's profitable at 15 cars in each of four classes and 500 people in the stands, an easily achievable number without it being under the thumb of the drag strip any longer. Too bad the owner robbed the stands and sold off tens of thousands of dollars worth of track prep equipment for pennies or we might have seen it happen.

To a lot of people there really is nothing better than plopping a chair down in the turn in front of your car and watching good racing with your feet in the grass.

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

Kokomo is a "sterile environment"?
Yeah, it has amenities but it's no Lucas Oil Stadium; I hadn't heard the rationale
that people won't go somewhere because it's too nice...

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

Now you're just putting words in my mouth.

But yeah, when a facility is so worried about selling their $1 canned coke and $2 hot dogs they're telling people they can't enter with a bottle for their baby, yeah it tends to feel a little sterile.

I'm not even saying there is anything wrong with it. But some fans like a more relaxed setting where you can sit in the grass and enjoy a race. There are more than enough of them to sustain another track in the area.

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

I see what you're saying, not sure I'd have used "sterile", maybe "restrictive" but point taken.
Guess it's tough to know where to draw the line between "user friendly" and turning a profit, but going back to the Lucas Oil Stadium (or Banker's Life, Victory Field, insert Pro Stick-and-Ball facility here) analogy, Kokomo's transgressions pale in comparison. At least anybody can freely tailgate at Kokomo, and go back out to the car any time for personally-obtained refreshment. a fair tradeoff for the level of entertainment there to me.
Sorry to go a bit off-topic; to go even further, Happy Thanksgiving!

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

I wouldn't say 80% of Kokomo attendees are non area residents. Not even close. I've gone to reg shows and they have a good crowd..

What I'd love to see is Montpelier take fri nights and alternate sprints and midgets.. A few of the waynesfield guys would fill in. and whats left of the reg gas city regs.

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

Whoa, now, let's leave MP just where it is...too far for me to make it on Fridays after work...

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

I don't mind going to Kokomo,,but always a but...Gas City had an agreement to be sold but OConners would not give up Sprint Week date last year or for next year so at least one deal for Gas City fell thru...Cant really blame new owner-if he cant have USAC race it would be difficult to purchase. But are the Kokomo owners that scared to have the Gas re-open?

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

Bunker Hill racing on Friday nights would make a lot of sense. Since Gas City appears to be nowhere near weekly racing again, Bunker Hill could easily fill that void. It is far enough from Lima, Bloomington, Hartford, Kankakee, and Route 44 that they wouldn’t have a lot of competition for drawing area fans and race teams. Certainly less competition than running on Saturdays with Plymouth, Montpelier, Shadyhill, Daugherty, Butler, Lincoln Park, Waynesfield, Oakshade, and on some weekends Eldora and Baer Field. They could run a complementary program to those held at Montpelier/Plymouth on Saturdays and Kokomo on Sundays. Classes could vary depending on events at those other area tracks, but there would be plenty of fans and race teams to pull from.

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

Not true. The O Connors would probably love to get out of Gas City, they only rent it on race nights. The date belongs to Gas City. I just talked to a relative of someone who is trying to take it over for next year today.
As for Bunker Hill it has done ok as a stock car track. Open wheel has never done very well there. My neighbor ran a street stock there the last time it was open. He told me he liked it because you could drink beer in the pits. It has a neat shape and would be fast for a flat track.
The last sprint race I saw there only had 8 cars. Included in that group were Dave Darland, Tony Elliott, Terry Shepherd, Steve Butler, and a young Robbie Stanley. Randy Woodling took a nasty tumble, and I believe Darland won the feature.
I was young at the time, maybe someone older than me will remember, but I think that is where Tony Solomito was badly burned there. That would have been before they covered the pavement with dirt.

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

https://i.imgur.com/irN3KUp.png

Not my quote, it's from the mayor and stems from conversations with the track. There's no denying that they have a good crowd on any given night, but over the last decade there has been a huge shift in the demographic that frequents it. Kokomo is on the crux of being a crowl jewel in the dirt world, but that has left a lot of old patrons displaced. I'm not knocking it by any means, but being from just blocks away from the track I've seen first hand how many locals have turned away from the facility as it shifts to large events and a wider appeal. Probably stubbornness more than anything, but for example when they tore down the back stretch bleachers to put in new ones there were people who stopped going altogether because the back stretch was like its own little community, a completely different experience for them than on the other side.

Bunker Hill was always a diamond in the rough for the stock car guys. The facilities were ****, track management was never particularly on the ball, it paid like ****, but there is a large group of loyalists who still hold it dear because the way it was set up made most people feel like it was "their" track. There is room for both approaches I think. I absolutely would never see it as a track that could sustain sprint cars for more than a few special shows. But as an experimental stock car focused track that caters to a group of fans who don't want to travel incredibly far, but want a more down home feel, it certainly could fit with the right promoter and draw enough fans to easily survive.

Re: Bunker Hill (IN) possibly reopening? Anyone heard anythi
 

That was my quote not the mayors. I was the person interviewed for that article. I was questioning the Sprintweek part of what was said. Local attendance started falling off when they switched to Saturday nights. People found other things to do. I did an economic impact study 2 years ago at my own time and expense. Those numbers were pretty correct.

I drove by Bunker Hill speedway today and there is no sign of anything being done on the circle track side. The for sale signs we're all on the old dirt track side of the road so maybe they are trying to split it from the Drag strip.

The sign on 31 has been changed and it looks like the building selling food is open on the weekends..

The only time I was ever at the track was for the nostalgic drag race day a couple years ago. Lots of old gassers and steel body coupes got to run down the track.. Great time!!

Anyone thinking you could make a profit on the circle track needs to go to there family doctor to get a brain scan!