From Bobby's Site:

Torco Racing Fuel's Competition Plus.com - Drag Racing's Internet Magazine - HIGH ON THE MOUNTAIN WITH JOHN BANDIMERE



Love the Q & A, and for the record. I've worked with some great people in my life, but NEVER with a GROUP of GREAT PEOPLE! Everyone at Bandimere, John jr, Sporty, Larry Crispe, Tammy Schrader, Bruce Kamada, and the entire staff are quality people! I am honored to work for them one weekend a year!!!

Timmah!

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Timmah! 5636 S/C
"What do Termites eat for Breakfast? OAK-MEAL!"
http://www.myspace.com/timcharlet

Thanks for posting the link, Tim. I've argued for years that the NHRA should include John Bandimere and a few other top-notch race track owners in a high level role for building our sport.
Even when errors occur at Bandimere's, they seem to be just that:errors. They aren't a result of indifference or poor planning. The Bandimeres stay on top of things and constantly improve. They are also great people.
I do disagree with John on the location of PPIR. Properly promoted that place would be a beehive of activity and a solid money maker. There wouldn't be concerns about residential encroachment either. To the west is the artillery ranga at Fort Carson. To the south there is more Ft. Carson land. To the north a huge power plant unsuitable as a residential neighbor and, to the east, the Interstate, a railroad line and the Fountain Creek - quite a distance before one reaches buildable land.
I get it, though. I grew up in South Denver and Littleton. I didn't think there was life south of the Arapahoe County line either.
Cheers,
Ed

Nice write up! And still kind of "open ended" in relation to the "Bruton Smith" thread above. Truly a family-run business. Every one of them are all out there working, every weekend, right through the rain delays, all season long. I've seen John Sr. working the concession stand before on a Friday night - and that's no B.S.

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On my arm until the day I die, but in my heart forever

The first time I walked into race control, I saw John entering tech card info in front of a computer monitor that had a sign on top that read "Old Guys Rule!" My first thought was, I like this guy!

Everyone there is very hands-on about the operation of their race track. They all care about the experience everyone has at their place, and it shows.

Give Jon Asher the credit on this masterpiece.

He knows how to bring out the best in people in stories -- especially the Bandimere Family.

TO ED ARCURI

I respectfully disagree with your analysis of the Pikes Peak International situation.

I totally agree with you about there not being an “encroachment problem” (five yards, still first down!).

Unlike hard core fans of any form of racing, who will drive whatever distance is required to get to an event, tracks can’t survive without regular attendance by casual fans. They might come out but once a year, but that can be enough to keep a facility going. Without them it’s doomed to failure.

People simply won’t drive from Denver and its environs or from Colorado Springs to PPIR even though the drive isn’t that far. It’s just “too far” for them, hence the track’s impending failure.

If the planners of PPIR had studied the results of Ontario Motor Speedway they might have changed their minds on the location. When Ontario was built it was a state of the art facility, perfect for round track racing, road course operations and drag racing, BUT at the time of its construction the massive bedroom communities that now surround the area were nothing but empty fields, and people simply would not make the 80 to 100 mile drive from the even-then heavily populated areas of the San Fernando Valley or Orange County or even Riverside.

Look at the now successful California Speedway in Fontana, which is no more than a few miles from the old Ontario location. It “works” because there are literally hundreds of thousands of new residents living within 30 miles of the track. There were no such communities in the days of Ontario, and that’s why it failed, not from mismanagement or anything else. They just couldn’t get the fans to make the drive to the track.

The same thing is impacting PPIR. There’s nothing wrong with the track or its location, but people are basically lazy, and driving what they may consider to be “too far” is a track killer.

Jon Asher

As both a racer of the goofy Cummins Diesel Dragster, and the key sponsor of the Cummins Rocky Mountain Truckfest, I have known the Bandimere family and workers for many years. They have set a standard to what other tracks should be.

They are great business people, yet true fans and promoters of the sport. To watch them grow our truck event to one of if not the largest in the nation, has been amazing.

Even when I hared a marketing staffer away from them, they were supportive of us and their then ex-employee. Class people.

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Owner builder and tuner of the first 7 second diesel dragster... Cummins Power and Biodiesel fueled....
www.cumminsracing.com

After reading that story, thought I'd dig around and scan a few photos
I have from the 80 Mile High's, check out Bandimere as it was.

MySpace

Hi Jon - Great article, the Bandimere family, as you know is well respected in Denver. What I admire about John is that everywhere you go, you see him. He's in the staging lanes shaking hands with the sportsman racers, he's in the pits after qualifying saying hello and so on.

About PPIR check this article from the Denver Post and see what you think.

Talk to ya sometime -

Jim

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