We’ve reported on the current situation regarding Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois (right next to St. Louis) previously. The track is off of the NASCAR truck schedule for 2011 and is no longer part of the NHRA national event tour going forward. Dover Motorsports, the company that operates the track took the value of the property from a stated $10 million dollars down to $2.1 million, and is actively trying to find someone to buy the place.
There has not been an official notice that the track will be closed at the end of this season, but all signs are pointing in that direction. The most recent piece of circumstantial evidence is the hiring of Richard Schaefer as the NHRA Division 2 Director. Schaefer was formerly the drag racing events manager at Gateway for the last three years.
Finally, there is the issue of why no one has bought ore made a serious offer on the property. There has been a load of speculation on this ranging from the mile to the totally insane. Brett Kepner, the drag racing announcer, photographer, and long time Gateway racer/worker/inmate posted the following on the Lethal1320.com message board (we learned of this via YellowBullet.com):
He wrote, in response to multiple posts about the lack of a sale:
I’m only responding to this thread because the article in Drag Racing Online is so incredibly wrong. I’m only going to type this once and I’m not going to respond with any more information. The reason for the lack of interest in a sale of Gateway International Raceway is no secret. There are several people on this board who know the details, (‘Goose being one with whom I’ve shared the basics), and, for the life of me, I have no idea why you people think this is such a conspiracy.
The reason nobody is interested in GIR has nothing to do with the economy, the management, the oval track or the dragstrip. In fact, the dragstrip is, (currently), one of the most successful in the country. Tuesday nights are doing great, Fridays (MM) are through the roof, and, despite the fact bracket racing has been in a horrible slump for a decade, even the Saturday bracket series holds its own quite well. Even the Outlaw All Stars program has shown notable growth. The majority of GIR’s major events are rentals so those races are fine, too. The NHRA National Event does very well for both GIR and the NHRA. However, it wouldn’t matter if the track was ten times more successful. It simply can’t possibly make money.
Chris Pook built the new Gateway in 1996 with $21.5 million in Illinois state bonds. Those bonds were deferred for ten years. Those bonds came due in 2006. For the past four years, GIR has been operating with an annual tax debt of $1.8 million. End of story.
Nothing…not even a NASCAR Cup date…could ever pull the track out from under that load. When it became obvious the track was never going to get a Cup race, Pook (wisely) got out. He knew an NHRA race, a NASCAR truck race, a Nationwide race or even his own CART events wouldn’t do it, either. As it stands, (with no major events at the oval), a new owner would need the equivalent of five good NHRA National Events in one season just to start at ZERO.
NOW start figuring out who’d say “Yes!” to such a deal. Can’t think of ANYBODY? Gee. I guess that explains why nobody’s in line to buy it.
If the tax nightmare could ever be figured out, THEN a prospective buyer could start looking into a way to deal with the three land owners and all the rest of the headaches involved in acquiring Gateway International Raceway.
I don’t care what anybody has heard, said, thought or read. These are the facts. If you don’t believe it, call Dover and ask.
There will always be hilarious rumors out there and, personally, I hope they keep coming just for the entertainment value. However, all the idiots who insist the track is closing because they wait in line for a run at Midnight Madness or the NHRA event was pulled because of racer complaints, (my favorite so far), need to get a clue about the business world.
None of this was ever a secret. All you had to do was ask. Get a grip, people.
I’m not posting this anywhere else. If you find somebody who’s spewing inaccuracies, feel free to cut-n-paste this whole response. The funny part is they’ll still believe the whole place went under because it wasn’t an “outlaw track”.
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It sure seems like the place is doomed and it will join Memphis Motorsports Park (another Dover property) on the scrap heap of dead drag strips. That is a pile that has begun to grow at an alarming rate in the past few years.
We’ll keep you posted when news breaks about Gateway.
