Canyon Comments
 

First time there thoughts:

1. Racing: Excellent 2. Track Surface: Good, fairly racey, little dust 3. Track Lights: Need improvement 4. Program: Very good 5. Announcing: too much advertising, not enough emphasis on car/driver info. as they roll onto track first time 6. Facility: Very basic, how one can have a 30 year old permanent public facility with only porta-potties and no potable water is unbelievable 7. Refreshments: Very good

Overall a positive experience for the racing, especially for a died in the wool, experienced fan; but would be hard pressed to use this venue to introduce a potential new fan to our sport and expect them to return on their own due to the somewhat primitive facilities. Yes, I would return, but not with someone seeing a sprint car race for the first time.

Re: Canyon Comments
 

I have read that the track is located in a floodplain, and that all of the track facilities are considered temporary. I would think that any improvements like bathrooms would not be financially feasible in a floodplain. A potable water supply would likely have to be trucked in. I'm happy that the track was able to pull this off especially considering that the grandstands seat about 1500 people.

Re: Canyon Comments
 

Kevin Montgomery is a class act and a top notch promoter. He just took over the track a few months ago. Watch for improvements in the future.

Re: Canyon Comments
 

Canyon is what Phoenix, Arizona race fans were left with when Manzy closed. Yes the facilities are primitive an certainly not Manzy, but on the positive side there are no neighbors close by to complain about the noise, dust and all the other issues that racetrack owners deal with.

Also on the positive side the racing last weekend was great, it usually is at Canyon. All that was missing for me was not having Dave Darland and Coleman Gulick competing, maybe next year.

I could be wrong but it is my understanding the lighting system is run by a generator, no power in the area. I guess I have always looked at Canyon as someones vision thirty years ago out in the desert where growth still hasn't caught up with it today. There are no power lines, no water and not even a paved road to get to Canyon but yet racing has survived there for thirty years. The question for me is, since the recent openning of the 303 in May how long will it be before power, water and residents encroaching on Canyon bring the demise of Canyon Speedway?

An as for not taking someone to the races for the first time at a place as primitive as Canyon, I believe if you do and they want to go back you have hooked someone on the racing and made them a fan for life.
Facilities don't matter!

With that being said I have recently met someone that wants to build a new racing facility in the Phoenix area, no primitiveness involved with this project. So if you know anyone with more money than they know what to do with, have them contact me, I will get the parities in touch with each other.

While talking about Manzy, drove some friends from N. Y. down by there on Saturday sadly you would never know a race track was ever there. The new fencing the Martin's put in when they bought the track was the only thing recognizable. Over the past two and a half years I have heard alot of rumors about the Manzy property, the company that bought it was brankrupt, there was only one crane parked there, etc., etc., etc. Actually there is a thriving business there, not the business I wanted to see there, but the drive down there gave me closure in a way. I no longer had the misconception that Manzy was lost for no good reason only to have the land sitting vacant and the company that bought it bankrupt. Actually I had seen a picture six months or a year ago showing a building on the property but I still had no idea what I would find when we started out on the drive last Saturday. Manzy truly is just a memory now!

Time to figure out if we are racing at Canyon tonight or Cali's weather will be here before it is time to go racing.

Patti