Why do tracks close?

nathans1012 · 5/14/25, 3:29 PM

Why do tracks close?

Boyds & Rome Speedway's in Georgia
Winchester & Cleveland Speedway's in Tennessee
Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Virginia
Junction Motor Speedway in Nebraska
Twin Cities Raceway Park in Indiana
Legendary Hilltop Speedway in Ohio
and so many others like them. If you know of other tracks that have closed in the last number of years like these, list them in your reply.

Some of these tracks drew huge crowns & some didn't.

Yes, economics probably plays a part in some of them closing, but others may have had issues with way too many classes for weekly shows, dragging the show along, promoters thinking they feel the need to qualify every damn class they run, the price of keeping a race car going each week has increased tremendously over the last 10 years or so, Race track insurance prices going through the roof, tracks that are located on county / state fairgrounds not being so easy to deal with (Vermilion County Speedway comes to mind), Gate prices to high, other tracks that run the same night drawing cars away, & the big one in today's world there are other options to do for a family instead of paying to go watch races.

Also, I've said it for years running to many classes is a detriment to your facility until you learn how to move the show along. In no way shape or form shout you need to run 7, 8, 9, 10, 11+ class on a regular night when you already drag the show out 2-3 hours past when you could have already been done for the night.
2 tracks in my opinion that do a good job with of moving the show along is Brownstown Speedway in Indiana. Yes, most nights they only run 5 of their 6 weekly divisions and the other being Marshalltown Speedway in Iowa.

P.S. Tracks at the very minimum should have some sort of medical personal on site each race night!

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS?

jdull99 · 5/15/25, 1:54 AM

Raising Property Taxes do not help in some situations. I have heard there is an effort to help control that (where it can apply); in the works / maybe lock in the rates for the tracks as development goes up around them.

All in all, I think in many cases, sadly, the value of the land exceeds how much can be brought in thru weekly racing events. Of course, there are ways these facilities could make some money other than just on race nights; but when you start thinking about it; investors/city leaders/etc like businesses that are open and bringing in revenue 5-6-7 days a week; 52 weeks a year...instead of place that's only open one day a week in the summer...

Scott Daloisio · 5/15/25, 10:05 AM

You hit the nail on the head, Jason. Property values.

bsmith8 · 5/15/25, 5:58 PM

Because fans don’t support the track and no one in there right mind is going to keep losing money accept a race car owner, an addict and a gambler .

oldfan49 · 5/15/25, 9:28 PM

In the Mo./Ks. area it is a combination of lack of cars and lack of people in the stands. Most classes don't have enough cars for 2 heats. And the casual fan is almost non existent. Almost everyone in the stand is tied to a racecar or crew in some way.
There is a mutiny if there is any moisture in the track by the times heats start. so they throw water on hardpan so it will blow off in hot laps. So you end up watching cars slow roll the bottom or rubber race both in single file.
I gave up taking new non race fans because they usually end up bored and upset with me.
I have always been an open wheel diehard but honestly I watch Marshalltown , California, or Indiana online most of the time. Either that or drive to Indiana.
I used to be the I'm gonna find a track to go to every night somewhere but for me those days are gone. I've switched to quality over quantity.

TNRustler · 5/16/25, 2:45 PM

Tracks also run into the issue of encroaching neighborhoods. Tracks that have been established and running for years, long before any houses are built in the area suddenly face an onslaught of noise/dust complaints and wind up being forced to shut down. Manzanita and Arizona Speedway are 2 that come to mind.

jason88cubs · 5/17/25, 9:56 AM

here in Central Illinois we almost have to many tracks. Hard to get to them all

fridays-lincoln, farmer city, spoon river, jacksonville

sat-macon, fairbury, peoria,

its nice to have the variety tough

the way my schedule looks i'll go to lincoln 11 times (home track), farmer city 2 times, jacksonville 2 times, peoria 1 time, spoon river 4 times, fairbury once, macon 4 times

kendirt · 5/17/25, 6:19 PM

There are about as many reasons tracks close as there are closed tracks.

One reason that doesn't get much play is that no one wants to run them. For all the internet experts that know how it should be done the people who will step up and do it are few and far between.

Give you an example, when Joe and Steve Kosiski decided they'd had enough of operating I-80 Speedway in Nebraska they tried for two years to find someone to take it over so it remained a race track. They'd built it from the ground up after Sunset Speedway in Omaha closed. It was all newish and nice. It made money. Joe said in more than one interview that they were just tired of having to be there every night. He said it was easy for them to hire people to run their other businesses, but if he or Steve were not there on race nights the whole thing went sideways. They would have seller financed it. They would have stayed on as consultants. The only things that were not negotiable was the price as they had a standing offer for the property and the day they were going to be done operating it.

So where were all the people who know so much about how a race track should be ran? All they would have had to do was slot themselves in Joe's role, hire someone to replace Steve as the track prep guy, and take the money to the bank.