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Well you have hit on some of the "issues"  Although so far it looks like they are really not going to be issues. The place is kind of isolated surrounded by farms. Gilliam is the closest town and it is relatively close but not much else around. Our guy is trying to get a feel for how the city "fathers" feel about the facility...
Bad news for large events is there is no place nearby to stay really. The pits are fairly small as well..Not sure it can be a big money maker ever but worth a look and maybe a run at it..
That's a real concern. Anybody who's interested should talk to the city/county planning dept; ask what their view is for the future of the area.
My dad bought a commercial building just outside of Seattle for the same price as that dragstrip; has a $6000 payment every month.
Seems that the city planners really want to see a retail establishment instead of a food processor. Even though his business fits the zoning, he's got all kinds of problems with parking, building permits, etc...
People putting in retail stores (which pay more taxes than wholesalers) aren't having these problems w/ the city hall.
If the local municipality is cool, then on to the next issue: why were the previous owners shrinking the business as opposed to growing it? Not saying it can't be turned around, but there has to be a real good plan in place to do so. We're heading into a temporary financial downturn, which will likely be very hard on a thing like a drag strip which lives or dies by peoples' discretionary income.
One more 'buzzkill' point... in the likelihood that this would take more capital to get it profitable, where would the money come from? Getting a group of guys to put the purchase price together really wouldn't be that hard. If it would pay for itself. But, if it loses money, someone's got to foot the bill. Otherwise, all the guys who put up $1000 for a piece of the action lose it when the place gets closed back down due to not being profitable, and then have to sell or be foreclosed upon.
Not trying to bash this idea; I love land, I love business, and I love racing. I think it's a REAL shame whenever a drag strip closes. But IMHO, buying into a business for emotional reasons is a good way to lose money.
Hopefully interested parties will be able to solve these problems and keep a strip open!
-bill
Seduce the attractive, and charm the rest.
******
489 C.I.D., roller cam, aftermarket heads, tunnel ram, stock '54 Dodge rear axle assembly: which of these doesn't belong?
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