The Indoor Professional Racing Facility Dream: Still Pie in the Sky

[cjforumadmin]

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/The-Indoor-Professional-Racing-Facility-Dream-Still-Pie-in-the-Sky.html

[C1BAD66]

Re: The Indoor Professional Racing Facility Dream: Still Pie in the Sky

Many years ago, there was a magazine article showing the concept of a drag strip in a [clear] tube.

Spectator seating was outside.

I don't recall if it was a hot rodding mag or if it might have been in Popular Mechanics.

Maybe [another] old-timer can recall the source...

[squirrel]

Re: The Indoor Professional Racing Facility Dream: Still Pie in the Sky

We were talking about what's gonna happen to the old Walmart building, there's a new super W going in across the street, opens Wednesday. I suggested auto racing of some sort. Maybe a demo derby, bonus points if you hit a column and make part of the roof collapse.

[Matt Cramer]

Re: The Indoor Professional Racing Facility Dream: Still Pie in the Sky

We were talking about what's gonna happen to the old Walmart building, there's a new super W going in across the street, opens Wednesday. I suggested auto racing of some sort. Maybe a demo derby, bonus points if you hit a column and make part of the roof collapse.

A smash the building demo derby would be pretty cool. And I've seen indoor go-kart tracks work, but those and monster truck rallys seem about as close as you can get with indoor races. I did a stint in an architectural firm in the HVAC department, and the sort of air conditioning you'd need to run a 500 mile race in a dome staggers the imagination. You'd need a motor driving the air conditioner that's several times more powerful than the entire starting grid.

[squirrel]

Re: The Indoor Professional Racing Facility Dream: Still Pie in the Sky

I guess that's why they have "racing season" in the summer, eh?

[rjfscorpio711]

Re: The Indoor Professional Racing Facility Dream: Still Pie in the Sky

Wow, you figure with all the large manufacturing plants closing (i.e. auto manufacturer plants) a large enough place would be easy to find. I've been in a few of these places and the newer ones (now closed) are built purposely for open access and refiguration. One plant in Tennessee is just 800 feet short of a mile through the center aisle! The way I see it 1/4 mile track with almost 1/2 mile shut down and a little more to spare a on either end is perfect. Plus these places could be had for pennies on the Dollar.

[tigeraid]

Re: The Indoor Professional Racing Facility Dream: Still Pie in the Sky

Maybe I'm missing something here, but last time I checked, the Chili Bowl Nationals packs 50+ 300-400hp Midget dirt cars into the Tulsa Expo Center every year. They race around a 1/4 mile dirt oval entirely indoors, and it seats 15,000 spectators. I haven't heard of anyone freezing, boiling, or dying of exhaust poisoning yet.

Obviously a 1/4 mile oval with bleachers around it is not the same scope as a half-mile long building to house a drag strip--but if anything, that'd just mean MORE room for exhaust gasses to be funneled out properly. I could see fuel cars having a problem, but cars running on gas? It's been done at the Chili Bowl forever.

[Matt Cramer]

Re: The Indoor Professional Racing Facility Dream: Still Pie in the Sky

Maybe I'm missing something here, but last time I checked, the Chili Bowl Nationals packs 50+ 300-400hp Midget dirt cars into the Tulsa Expo Center every year. They race around a 1/4 mile dirt oval entirely indoors, and it seats 15,000 spectators. I haven't heard of anyone freezing, boiling, or dying of exhaust poisoning yet.

Obviously a 1/4 mile oval with bleachers around it is not the same scope as a half-mile long building to house a drag strip--but if anything, that'd just mean MORE room for exhaust gasses to be funneled out properly. I could see fuel cars having a problem, but cars running on gas? It's been done at the Chili Bowl forever.

It's also a 50 lap race, and run in the middle of winter. You can probably handle the heat just by drawing in a lot of outside air. On a longer race, especially in summer, you'd have to deal with both more heat buildup and more total fumes released.