Don't just site there, get up from that computer and send me all your
money NOW!
Hmmm, that approach seems a bit too direct. Perhaps I should explain.
Apologies to those of you on both lists who see this twice.
Anyway, I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. A modest number of race drivers
also call this valley their home, whether they flog some ancient brick of
pig iron around the track, the latest mega-buck trick SCCA ride, or even
a well-tuned two wheeler. I guess a three wheel Morgan would fall into
the "ancient slab of pig iron" group. When these folks want to go racing,
they have a lot of choices. They can tow over the Rockies for a day to get to
one of the tracks in the Denver area. They can head for the scorching deserts
of the Southwest, Phoenix, or perhaps Las Vegas. Load up and strike out for
Portland, Oregon, or haul over Donner Summit on their way to Sears Point or
Laguna Seca. If you live in Salt Lake and you want to race, you have to face
at least a day's tow, no matter the direction. What fun.
I spent this past weekend working corners, sweeping the pits and generally
fussing about at a "race track" a mere 42 miles from my house. A dozen or two
folks, including a handful of Legends, came to play for the weekend. The site
is close to a real race track, but no, uh, well, maybe saying "cigar" just now
isn't the most politically correct phrase. The place needs work. What it was
is a test track that the army built a few years ago. Out at the Tooele Depot
the D.O.D spent a ton of money building a new truck, tank, etc. repair center.
Then they decided they didn't need it, and now the facility is in private
hands. The developers can build houses and condos like crazy, but they have
no idea what to do with a race track.
But it isn't quite a real race track just yet. The layout is your basic oval,
a little over a mile long. A road bisecting the middle of the track provides
a chicane of sorts where it meets the oval, so there is at least a second or
two of turning the wheel to the right. If you have a mechanical failure or
run out of gas in the wrong spot, there is no place to go to get out of
traffic. Some of the corners have a serious dropoff at the edge of the
pavement. The railroad tracks over there are a bit too close.
There is hope. What the place needs is some safety work, more asphalt here
and there at a minumum, a few barriers around the 12 foot deep tank fording
pit and some of the power poles and other such obstacles in the way. The
minimum estimate is about $80,000 to $100,000 dollars to get the site ready to
run SCCA sanctioned events. And of course twice that amount would go a long
way to making the place enjoyable, and not just bearable.
For those of you still reading, here's where you come in. I'm looking for
ideas to raise funding. The new owners of the place would be happy to lease
the site to a group that deals with racing. Intermountain Vintage Racing
would love to develop the place, but we are way fetchin' broke. So close,
and yet so far. Any ideas on how to raise a hundred grand or so? Perhaps
set up a public corporation, and try to sell shares, giving free track time
to purchasers based on their ownership stake? Selling stock just in Utah
would be fairly easy, I did it once many years ago, sort of. Going national
might be necessary to adequately fund the place, but a lot more hassle in
terms of interstate trade regulations. What other options do we have?
Say, anybody want to buy an autocrossing Spitfire for $125,000? I'll throw
in a set of fresh Hoosiers to replace the ones I corded at the VTR convention!
mjb.
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