Once again, talk of a new motorsports complex being built in Denver or the surrounding area has resurfaced.

In late May, a group led by Colorado Springs developer Bill Schuck announced its plans to build a new racetrack in northeast Aurora.

The proposed $200 million track would include a 1-mile oval speedway, a 4-mile road course and a go-kart facility. The track would seat anywhere between 65,000-100,000 fans on 1,500 acres on the TransPort property near Front Range Airport, east of E-470 and just north of Interstate 70. Building of the private venture is supposed to begin sometime in 2010.

Intially in the press release, it said that Schuck's group also was in early talks with Bandimere Speedway about relocating its dragstrip/complex to northeast Aurora.

Bandimere Reps Say Talk Is All Hot Air …

Once again, talk of a new motorsports complex being built in Denver or the surrounding area has resurfaced.

In late May, a group led by Colorado Springs developer Bill Schuck announced its plans to build a new racetrack in northeast Aurora.

The proposed $200 million track would include a 1-mile oval speedway, a 4-mile road course and a go-kart facility. The track would seat anywhere between 65,000-100,000 fans on 1,500 acres on the TransPort property near Front Range Airport, east of E-470 and just north of Interstate 70. Building of the private venture is supposed to begin sometime in 2010.

Intially in the press release, it said that Schuck's group also was in early talks with Bandimere Speedway about relocating its dragstrip/complex to northeast Aurora.

According to Jeff Sipes, Bandimere Speedway's media relations director, that statement is just hot air.

"Those conversations never happened," said Sipes in an exclusive interview with Competition Plus Monday. "We have not had any contact with Bill Schuck or his group about relocating our track."

Bandimere Speedway, which has been operating for 51 years, is based in Morrison, Colo., just outside of Denver. Bandimere is hosting the 30th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals Friday through Sunday.

The developers also said in their press release, that the decision to build the track was influenced by the recent passage of Senate Bill 173, the Colorado Tourism Act, which could provide the group access to up to $50 million in state sales-tax revenue to pay off construction bonds over a 30-year period.

Talk of a new motorsports complex being built in the Denver area has been going on for nearly a decade.

Back in 2000, International Speedway Corporation was working on plans to build a major race track in Aurora. The project, which would have included a drag racing track owned by John Bandimere Jr., was voted down by Arapahoe County residents. Bandimere Jr. remains the president and CEO of Bandimere Speedway.

It was thought that ISC's Colorado facility would become a reality when the Rocky Mountain Speedway Corp., a wholly-owned subsidary of ISC, purchased the assests of Pikes Peak International Raceway and closed the track on Oct. 31, 2005. PPIR, was a 1,200-acre site built in 1997 in Fountain just south of Colorado Springs.

And, frankly, if anybody is going to build a track in Denver, ISC would be the likely candidate. ISC owns or operates 13 tracks, including Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

During the last two-plus years, ISC officials have continued to say they would like to build a track in the metro Denver area but nothing has materialized.

"As I said, at this point we have had no talks recently with anybody about moving our track, and not until someone breaks ground on a (new) track would we listen to what they would have to say," Sipes said. "Bandimere Speedway has been a fixture in the community and our sole focus is to continue to improve the experience of our fans and drivers at our track."
 

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