Gateway International Raceway - CLOSED

[HyperV6]

Many of us in the St. Louis area knew it was coming but it's official now. Please see the link below.

Gateway Raceway will cease all operations

I've been racing there for the last 22 years - lots of good memories. It just stinks it had to come to an end. At least I got to race my Buick on the last day - 10/30/2010.

Craig

 

[Ken Adams]

That comes as shock. So where do Missouri guys go to race now? KC comes to mind but have never been to that track. I"ve heard rumor a racing facility was in the planning stages for Central MO. but cannot confirm. Have any suggestions?

 

[HyperV6]

There aren't any tracks close anymore. From St. Louis the closest tracks are Benton, IL and Sikeston, MO which are both 1/8 mile and about 1.5 hours away. I guess the closest 1/4 mile track will be KCIR in Kansas City which is 4+ hours away. I've seen some sketches of plans for a track called MARPark which is near Troy, MO. I hear they are needing to raise more money to build it, so I wouldn't count on it happening.

I guess we have been spoiled by having a very nice 1/4 mile track in the St. Louis area for a long time.

Craig

 

[GNBRETT]

im sure they will put another useless mall in its place

 

[rmar]

The word is al anabi racing will end up with it...... If they let it close it will probably just be bought a little cheaper. But who knows.

 

[daviss]

There aren't any tracks close anymore. From St. Louis the closest tracks are Benton, IL and Sikeston, MO which are both 1/8 mile and about 1.5 hours away. I guess the closest 1/4 mile track will be KCIR in Kansas City which is 4+ hours away. I've seen some sketches of plans for a track called MARPark which is near Troy, MO. I hear they are needing to raise more money to build it, so I wouldn't count on it happening.

I guess we have been spoiled by having a very nice 1/4 mile track in the St. Louis area for a long time.

Craig

Where did you hear the rumor about a track near Troy? Just wondering who is involved. I live outside Troy and would like to know who is involved. Intrigued.

I guess I'm glad I sold my car now. It wasn't much of a street car and now there's nowhere to race.

Steve

 

[Otto J]

From where I am in CT its still a minimum of 2 hours or better to any track.

 

[HyperV6]

Mid America Raceway Park

Checkout the website for the possible new track.

Like I said above, we have been spoiled with a great track in the St. Louis area.

Craig

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

The word is al anabi racing will end up with it...... If they let it close it will probably just be bought a little cheaper. But who knows.

Bingo, let it speculate, buy it cheap and make big $$$.

 

[Scott231]

Mid America Raceway Park

Checkout the website for the possible new track.

Hey, I used to "dominate" one of the 'stock' classes there with my 87 GN. I have lots of trophies from there where I was the only stock car running in the 12.50-12.99 range circa 1990-1992. Back in high school in 1982 our Auto Mechanics teacher told us about a road race out there. A few of us went and got to say hello to Paul Newman when he was racing his 240-Z.

 

[Keller]

An interesting excerpt from the Dover Motorsports Inc. (Gateway's parent company) form 10-Q (i.e. quarterly report) posted 11/5. (How convenient!)

On November 3, 2010, we announced the closing of our Gateway facility. The Gateway facility is located on approximately 306 acres of land in Madison, Illinois and the racetrack is on leased property. We have long-term leases for approximately 160 acres. The leases expire in 2011, 2025 and 2070 and afford us various purchase options in 2011 and 2015. We also own approximately 150 acres of the facility. We have been in discussions with several parties who have shown interest in buying the facility and we are currently evaluating all of our options relative to the Gateway facility.

In short, the the leases are not renewed on the land parcels that are not theirs by the stated dates, the facility will not be able to exist as it does now. Only the one with the 2011 lease would be crucial for the near term. I have no idea which parcel that one is.

 

[Keller]

Bingo, let it speculate, buy it cheap and make big $$$.

Mmm hmm. No one happened to mention the millions in bonds that have to be paid on the facility each year, did they? They were used to pay for the refurb that was done in the mid 90's. With those, it can not make money. Maybe this is a ploy to get the state / county to refi or dump them. Either for the current or new owners. The land is not worth much for anyone with out a lot of work given where it sits and what is on it. It does what it does very well...if the bonds weren't an issue.

Sort of like someone having a 15% mortgage...and trying to sell a house with assuming the mortgage as a condition of the sale.