We in Louisiana have really been hit hard this year. Of the 4 tracks in the State 2 have/will close.

Twin City in Monroe LA. did not open this year reportedly because one of the owners had problems with the law and apparently the track was foreclosed by the bank. We hated to see this track go because it was an extremely well run and friendly track. BTW I understand the track will be sold at a Sheriffs sale next week if anyone is looking to own a track. It's really sad because the owners have spent a ton of money in upgrades in the last few years. Let's just hope that whoever buys it will continue to operate it as a Drag Race Facility.

The second track, Thunder Road Raceway, at Gilliam Louisiana is supposed to close the end of this month. Supposedly the owners are going to turn it into an airfield. Th/is is an extremely nice facility which has had its ups and downs since the first day it opened years ago. If the airfield can't make it let's hope it becomes a race track again!!

These closures mean that there is no drag race facility in the state North of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Woe is us!!!

and you'll soon have this;

http://komonews.com/news/local/45-arrested-in-crackdown-on-illegal-street-racing-in-king-county

Car counts and spectators are down, commercial land values for large tracts are always going up, environmental and noise regs are up, neighbors are moving closer and they stamp their little feet over the nuisance. I'm surprised that more don't close. If it were not for folks who have made money and want a race track because they love the sport (Wells, Hughes, Haney, Miller, and plenty of others) we'd be in much worse shape.

I personally have never gone through a year like this in my life fighting transmission issues but I think I'm at the end of that struggle. Our car counts at Keystone have been OK but we were just talking about "no-shows" the other day. I'm older now (61) and most of my Friends are older but guys just aren't going like they did, old and young. They still own their cars but they sit 80% of the time now. A couple of Friends wrecked, several had major breakage this year but something is amiss this year. Our pay-out even increased to 1200.00 as this is our 50th anniversary at Keystone. The test n tune nights on Friday get a nice crowd but some of those guys will never hit a race day. Crazy year.

So sorry to hear this. We are very fortunate where I live. There are 7 tracks within 2 hrs drive. One track has had a bad yr due to weather. I believe they have only had 4 days where they could open. Track sits low in a flood plane. I hope it can stay open as its my favorite track. Just a small outlaw 1/8 mile track. Owner, track personel and other racers are great.

The rumor for Twin City is that it was owned by two guys in a partnership and one of those guys started having issues with drugs and the law. The other partner is supposedly hoping to purchase the track at sheriffs sale and keep it open.

Street legal/small tire/radial stuff and the night Kye Kelley came in for a match race has been big this year locally. Bracket racing? *crickets*

This might be true but it makes no sense, there is a airport LESS then 1 mile south of the track.

gilliam airport

Joe

That sucks to hear about Gilliam, that was a great track. I went there on drag week 2012 and really liked it.

Our local track here Tulsa Raceway Park was sold to a Quarry that is right next door. They actually shut the season down a little early in 2011. Then a couple of local guys arranged a lease with the company and it has been getting better since. However they had to get creative and they have mud races, 5K runs, rally events, monster truck events and lots of stuff on the property. The bracket program doesn't run every weekend, sometimes only once a month in the summer time. They also store hundreds of new school buses(international bus plant is 2 miles away) and new cars on the 200+ acres so I am sure they get a good fee out of that. They have figured out ways to continue to improve the facility.

Through some dealings at my work I ended up talkng to one of the higher ups at the quarry. He drove me around on kind of a tour with what they are doing. He is a big motorsports fan so I of course asked him what the plans were for the land the drag strip was on. He said they will one day expand there but said "it will likely not be in mine or your lifetime". I was glad to here that and I hope it holds true.

This stuff just pisses me right off. I say leave them alone if they're policing it decently.

But THIS mess? 'crashes, property damage, fights, shootings, stabbings and other illegal activity'???? Alcohol? wanted men? stolen cars...???

What the hell kind ov show are they running down there? THIS kind ov jerkoffery pisses me off too. Give bad name to responsible street racers.

And yes... i said responsible street racers.

More info on Thunder Road. Article on Dragzine apparently has the true story. Maybe it won't close but continue under new Management.

http://www.dragzine.com/news/court-settlement-leaves-thunder-road-raceways-future-in-question/

However I can't believe that a racer like Hoyos could not know or research turn up the fact that that track has had a continuing water problem since the first year it opened. That first year they had to cancel the IHRA Bracket Nationals just before the race because of major seepage problems. I knew about it and I was living in Huntsville, AL at the time.

Anyway I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will stay open. Also I believe the sheriffs sale for Twin City was scheduled for today so it will be interesting how that turned out.

My bad, date of Sheriff's sale is 7/26/17.

There’s times it seems like the car counts in Pro are lower than the Street class.
I often wonder if sometimes people with hot rods flat don’t understand bracket’s

Throw in having to hit the tree, make the car repeat, keep it cool, be there every week.
If you don’t know how to work on a car that’ll frustrate anyone.
After time trials for instance, if you have trouble and don’t know what to do you’re done…..that would get discouraging quickly as would breaking often or never being near a dial….or understanding how to dial

Mixing a small tire/power adder event to a bracket event locally sure does bring the crowd in.