Biffle starts dirt track series

[oddlycalm]

All I can say to this one is WTF? The Banks Speedway is in a 1/4 mile (not 3/4 as stated in the article) dirt oval without any bleachers 30 minutes west of Portland. There are a half dozen small ovals around the Northwest. This is no Eldora, this is barely anything. The local sprint car guys barely survive in the good years. They need a new series like a fish needs a bicycle IMO.

Biffle buys Oregon dirt track and forms late model series (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100226/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ne/car_nascar_biffle_dirt_track)

oc

[Michaelhatesfans]

I think nostalgia got the better of him on that one. I've heard that he was close with the previous (maybe current?) owner there and that track was part of where he cut his teeth. He comes back once a year to do a race as a favor to the track. Pity he didn't buy the old Portland Speedway before the bulldozers got the better of it.

For those unfamiliar, Banks may seem close to Portland on the map, but it's perceived as being a thousand miles away. As OC said, even when you get there, there's still nothing there. I don't see upgrades to the place having a very good ROI.

[Easy]

The Nascar version of celebs opening a restaurant. Free pub and a tax write off...

[oddlycalm]

The Nascar version of celebs opening a restaurant. Free pub and a tax write off...

I dunno, this is more like the NASCAR version of standing in an empty field in the middle of nowhere and proclaiming birth of a new series that nobody asked for. :tony:

oc

[cameraman]

What's with the hate? He got sponsorship & a prize fund for a series running at:

Willamette Speedway
Sunset Speedway
Madras Speedway
Gray's Harbor Raceway
Coos Bay Speedway
Southern Oregon Speedway

which isn't a long haul for anyone in Oregon. The main events will run 25 or 16 depending on the track. Winners get $1000- and 18th gets $100. Tops in points at the end of the year gets $25K.

Show me a crate series in Oregon that pays $1000- to the winner at 22 races.

[opinionated ow]

What's with the hate? He got sponsorship & a prize fund for a series running at:

Willamette Speedway
Sunset Speedway
Madras Speedway
Gray's Harbor Raceway
Coos Bay Speedway
Southern Oregon Speedway

which isn't a long haul for anyone in Oregon. The main events will run 25 or 16 depending on the track. Winners get $1000- and 18th gets $100. Tops in points at the end of the year gets $25K.

Show me a crate series in Oregon that pays $1000- to the winner at 22 races.

I concur, it's a pity that it'll be for lame models rather than midgets but you're spot on.

[oddlycalm]

What's with the hate?

Concern over dilution/death of a decent regional sprint car series at the expense of late model crates. Our guys don't make quite as much power as WoO cars, but they are only a second a lap slower on a 1/2 mile and they race on all the tracks you listed all summer long including the WoO races at Grays Harbor and Cottage Grove.

I'd have welcomed a midget series to complement the full size cars or even a straight up buy out of the sprinter series. Maybe it'll all work out, but so far it's just muddying the waters and creating fear and loathing among people that are already struggling to field cars.

oc