KCIR (Kansas City International Raceway), has recently changed owners. It's too bad the future looks dim... the new owners are Land Developers.

Kansas City International Raceway - Home

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/ka...7/daily16.html

Let's hope they keep their word and move the track to a new location and build it bigger and better. I'm not keeping my fingers crossed.

The sad thing is that if the track does close and they do not build a new one, who is to blame? One of the former owners is none other than Rob Parks, the NHRA Division 5 Director.

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Josh

www.jbracecraft.com

Dang! We're supposed to go there in October. I'm sure this year's schedule is going to remain solid, right???

Sean D

Opinion: Rob Parks is the director for NHRA Division 5. As director he should have full knowledge of the state of drag racing in KC and in the rest of the country as the economy goes into slow down and adjustment of it's financial state. As a business man Rob Parks has been harassed by local residents, county officials, and developers in the recent years to the point that a good offer convinced him to sell the property that KCIR is located. The new owner is a developer and a developer invests in property to help accent the surrounding area that he is developing. He says he will relocate the track within five years, we don't know much about the owner but we should give him a chance to show the racers, the students, the community of his interest in keeping drag racing available to the Kansas City and surrounding area. It's imperative that the community has a facility that is designed for drag racing so our young people that has an interest in this sport can go to on Wednesday and Friday nights to practice there skills and so the professional racers can come to to entertain the fans of the sport. As a racer who has frequented KCIR in the late 60's,70's and early 80's feel i have a vested interest in making sure we have a facility to race at for the near future and beyond. So i am willing to volunteer my time to work with other racers to form a group or committee to work with the developer to make sure that a facility is built.
If anyone would like to contact me on this matter just email me at fabman777@embarqmail.com

Then again, real estate developing is not a hot business right now.

Jay

Thanks for your opinion, and your offer to help! I hope you don't mind, I posted this on a local forum that has quite a few current racers on it. They may want to hit you up on your offer.

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Josh

www.jbracecraft.com

Joshua, that no problem i would love to help. If you could correct my email address to fabman777@embarqmail.com. I want dedicate email for just the drag strip only. Thanks

DRO reported that the track had been sold to a developer, but stated he planned on making improvements to the facility. No mention of closing it or moving it within 5 years. No matter what, I hope the track remains a racetrack, we can't afford to lose any.

Sean,

Our "Muscle Car Reunion & Nostalgia Drags" is on and solid for October. We'll have Big Daddy Don Garlits there with one of his Swamp Rats as well as Buddy Martin and his World Championship Super Stock & Pro Stock HEMI cars, as well as historic Chevrolet, Pontiac and Ford drag cars. Rob Parks has given us his word that the track will remain open and we trust and believe in Rob. If you can make it, please stop by the tower and say 'hello', I'd love to meet you.

Welcome to Muscle Car Reunion and Nostalgia Drags

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Mopar to ya'!
Johnny Mopar

And no rain this year on Sunday..right Johnny? lol

I sure hope not! We had such an awesome day Saturday. It barely rained enough to keep the track wet on Sunday. When I left and headed east on highway 50 the sun came out and skies were clear all the way back to The Lake. Weird weather for sure...

That event was as much fun as I've had at the track in a very long time. Hope you enjoyed it and are coming back. If you can make it to the St Louis race we'll have Roland Leong and his '70 Hawaiian Funny Car there...making passes. Big Daddy will be there as well as the Sox & Martin cars, Arnie's Ponchos, and a new collection of classic Ford iron. If you make it stop by Race Control (2nd floor) and say hello.

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Mopar to ya'!
Johnny Mopar

Dang, you got me all excited there until I looked at the Calander. We'll be in Topeka on those dates. See you in KC though.

Have fun at Heartland Park. See you in KC...

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Mopar to ya'!
Johnny Mopar

That event was a cool race to be at last year.

Greg, skip Topeka go to St. Louis. I know a particular nostalgia funnycar that is running there!

On the topic at hand, I have heard the Cow Town Nat's are a go still. Last year they had a huge crowd at that event as well. It is a neat track and fast with a lot of history. I enjoy racing there.

Rapid

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http://WWW.RAPIDRANDY.COM

Hey John,

That's good to hear. We run with the NPCA here in the midwest and were forced to skip the season closer last year at KCIR. After seeing some coverage of that race in Nitro Madness magazine, they appeared to have a heck of a crowd, so I've been regretting missing that race all winter. I also talked to a fellow named Chris about the Muscle Car Reunion in St. Louis in May, and we're considering going to that race as well. I assume you're affiliated with that one also???

No doubt I will be looking you up in either St. Louis or definitely KCIR. I've read many of your posts over the years and would enjoy chewing the fat a little with you as well. I look forward to it.

Sean D

Thanks for the kind words Sean. The "Chris" that you've spoken to has been a friend of mine since 1980. We've grown up together, we've married, raised kids and travelled all over creation for the love of our sport. He's a great dude. Like most of us, Chris is a racer's racer. He built a great event at Kansas City and is taking that successful blueprint to St Louis. I can't wait to get there!

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Mopar to ya'!
Johnny Mopar