Full Throttle

The black flag has been thrown over Pikes Peak International Raceway.

In a news conference at the Fountain track, officials with Rocky Mountain Speedway Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of International Speedway Corp., said it has has entered into an agreement to purchase the assets of PPIR and will dismantle the track.

The demise means Colorado will lose its NASCAR Busch Series and Indy Racing League events, though the IRL announced last month it would not have a race at the track in 2006.

Word is the Busch date may be moved to Martinsville in conjunction with one of its two NASCAR Nextel Cup Series events. My first thought was Rusty Wallace’s new baby in Newton Iowa. The Newton facility was just awarded it’s first race date, an ARCA event for late Oct ‘06. If the track owners there don’t try to scoop up this date they’re fools.

My second thought was of a past ISC attempt to place a NASCAR type facility in Aurora, Colorado based on the configuration of California Speedway. Then the conspiracy theorist kicked into high gear after reading this bit:

ISC will honor all of PPIR’s scheduled community uses and rentals through Oct. 31. After that, it will close the facility and begin to market the approximate 1,200-acre site for sale, with the requirement it not be used for motor sports-related events.

Johnson said ISC will move grandstands, furniture and other equipment and structures to other tracks. ISC owns or operates 11 tracks, including Daytona International Speedway in Florida and Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

With a closed and demolished speedway and no NASCAR presence in Colorado why is ISC/NASCAR concerned about other motor sport events being held on this site? Maybe I’m thinking too much. Maybe.

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports