There’s nothing quite like a good old fashioned political hit job. When special interest groups, money, and “community” leaders gang up against something they don’t like, but thousands of others do, the object drawing their ire doesn’t stand a chance. Such is the case with historic State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This story will raise your blood pressure.
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Here’s an NewsOK.com article laying out the situation, and it is grimmer than grim. The track is basically dead. The reasons listed for killing the track are some supposed electrical upgrades and access upgrades to bring the place into compliance with the Americans with Disabilites Act. The track promoter seems to think that these reasons are complete bunk and the people who have hated the track for some time are using them as the reasons for killing the place.
State Fair Speedway was the location of the only NASCAR race ever completed in Oklahoma (a second race started in Tulsa but was red flagged by Lee Petty himself because of track conditions). It was also the speedway used for the dirt track race in the 1962 film “State Fair.” Here’s a link to the speedway website for more info.
One of the persons driving this is a long-time enemy of the speedway, a social worker and former city councilwoman. Also note that the chairman of the Fair Park Board is an owner of the local NBA team and married to one of the owners of the local daily newspaper. He is also an opponent to motorsports.
The latest move to tear down the Speedway comes less than a week after voters approved an $800 Million sales tax called MAPS 3. MAPS 3 would fund improvements at various places, including the Oklahoma State Fair. In the promotional materials for the election, the city officials covered up the part of the project map that showed the Speedway and were purposefully vague about their plans for Fair Park renovations.
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