Another Wall Speedway Artical

[310fig8]

For all interested parties, like myself, here is the latest on the future of the Wall Township Speedway. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050816/NEWS01/508160362/1004

[DAN D.]

when it was said that it needs to be a year round destination with a drive in movie, sounds like a source of some income ??? 50 acres is a lot of land to develop. I do not remember what Riverhewads acreage was again I think 10 acres? Maybe a year round Campground in Wall? with a drive in movie? Well I am glad to see that the deal on the table fell thru because they could not meet some monetary guidelines spelled out in the contract..
Hey what about a snowmobile racing track for the winter ??? I really think that would work. I don't think there are many of those around??

[Jeff T]

They could always build an ATV/Motocross facility there. It would generate income and give the quad riders someplace to go.

[redwiteandblue]

if there was undeveloped land they could have a paintball. i dont know i was never there.

[KenSchou_NY]

The Riverhead Raceway property is approximately 26 acres and is in an area where property values have SKY ROCKETED in recent years. There was an article in Newsday a year or more ago that focused on the EXTREMELY HIGH demand and low supply (and continually getting lower) of property in the Riverhead Route 25 business corridor. Even with the economy slowing somewhat, this has not changed.

Islip was once well known as "The speedway in the woods" .. Riverhead was out in the middle of no where!

When I first started working at the Raceway (then called Vimco Riverhead Speedway - the promoter was Vinny Morabito) in 1975 there was almost no viable place to shop for many common things in Riverhead. Main Street was all but dead, Route 25 had (almost) not started growing up .. it was still a true "country" environment. There were many farms, where houses now stand. The nearest viable shopping area was all the way in at the Smithhaven Mall!!! .. .. Quite a hike!!!

Let's make a few (OF MANY) examples here .. in "relatively" recent years, as areas grew up around places like the Danbury (CT) Racearena, Islip Speedway, Reading (PA) Fairgrounds Speedway, Trenton (NJ) Fairgrounds Speedway, etc. .. what happened? Actually many things including environmental noise became a problem .. but more importantly the value of the property ESCULATED so much that it was no longer feasible monitarily to operate the venue as a motorsports operation. It made more business sense to sell the property off to a developer (either commercial or residential) & for the owners to simply put the money in there pocket .. actually otherwise invest it .. have it work as or MORE profitably and leave the headaches of running a weather dependent, seasonal business behind.

Another REAL problem for promoters that no one seems to realize is .. the fan base becomes increasingly difficult to attract .. not only because of cost .. but becuse of the popularity of racing on TV today. Millions of people that enjoy Cup and other racing on TV and in the climate controlled comfort of their homes .. will never venture out to a grass roots short track. As the fan base dwindles, facilities (such as Wall in this instance) will be sold off and be developed even more quickly. For a local racer or fan a worry some situation.

Freeport probably lasted as long as it did strictly because it was a municipally owned facility. Politics and red tape kept it's sale on the back burner for years after it was ripe to be sold. Add to that .. that a lot of the parking areas around & once used for the stadium had long been sold before hand.

My son & his family lives a relative stones throw from Wall. I've watched the population & shopping, etc. density grow & grow & GROW since he moved there. Again, property values in the area have SKY ROCKETED. .. There has also been talk & articles in local newspapers regarding the airport next to it (Wall) being sold to developers. Talk like that only increases (even if speculatively) Wall's mere 50 acres.

As areas grow up .. population and everything that goes with it increases and therefore becomes more sophisticated, it becomes more difficult to operate and more important increasingly SILLY (in a business sense) to operate as a speedway.

In one way as sad as this is, it what has and WILL continue to happen. It's called GOOD BUSINESS SENSE. Simply put .. kind a of work less and earn MORE situation.

In closing .. There used to be a rule of thumb that went something like this .. 'Successful grass roots (oval) speeways will be found at leat 50 miles from there nearest major entertainment.'. This probably still holds true. Heck I can easily find a lot of GRRRREAT entertainment value easily within 50 miles of Wall.

-Ken Schou

[RGeeProductions]

The Riverhead Raceway property is approximately 26 acres and is in an area where property values have SKY ROCKETED in recent years. There was an article in Newsday a year or more ago that focused on the EXTREMELY HIGH demand and low supply (and continually getting lower) of property in the Riverhead Route 25 business corridor. Even with the economy slowing somewhat, this has not changed.-Ken Schou
I am thinking you must mean Rt58 here. As Rt 25 runs along the Peconic River and no major new building will happen because of DEC.

[Jeff T]

Hey Ken, I agree with many of your points that you made in your comments about grass roots racing trying to stay profitable in the world of Saturday night Cup races on TV and the urban blight closing in on these racing facilities. We can only hope that Riverhead will be able to continue for years to come despite the obstacles put forth before them. You can see the development problem popping up all over the northeast with motorsports facilities-Riverhead, Wall, Albany Saratoga, Waterford, Englishtown (drag), and even places like Williams Grove, Pa. I've gone to the Grove 3 times in the last 6 years, and each year, you see more housing developments popping up closer to the speedway. They haven't gotten up to their back door yet, but in time, they will be there. We can only hope that these places continue to co-exist with their growing surroundings. I know that as of last year, Silver Spring Raceway in Pa. was located behind a Kohl's shopping center, right on the main drag. They co-existed with their surroundings, it would be nice if all the others were allowed to do the same.

By the way Ken, I remember you when I used to sit on the backstretch at Riverhead when I was a teenager, when you were promoting the track. You would walk around the track greeting patrons and taking the time to sit down and talk to them, and listen to what they had to say. As an 18 year old back then, I thought it was kind of corny. Now as a 45 year old, I can appreciate what you did, and why you did it. Thanks for your time in the sport and caring about what the people wanted to see. A few of today's promoters could take some your principles and learn something from that.

Jeff Tuthill