Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

since the poor turnout in fargo, is the track still operating part time or not all?

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

bump...

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

Fargo is shutdown for this season and I have not heard anything about it opening back up going forward. Danny Schatz gave it a good try the past few years. Some recent letters in the Fargo paper suggested that the lack of enthusiasm for the track and racing in general by the fair board and the fair manager was a major contributor to Danny backing away from the track. Fargo used to be one of the premier tracks in the upper Midwest and the yearly Outlaw races were huge.

Fargo is a beautiful 3/8 mile oval with concrete stands.Wa1/2 mile oval before..The fairboard have ruined a good facility that Danny Schatz tried to revive and had too m uch interference from the FB. Its a shame it closed. I remember many good nights of racing there in the last 4 decades...Just too bad...

I believe there were many contributing factors to the Schatz's letting the lease expire on the track but from what I've heard the largest of those was the new contract was for more money and they cut a ton of dates out of the schedule due to other FB events, there was only 1 or 2 nights in July that the facility was available for racing. And July should be your prime money making month. I've heard that 2 other promoters approached the fair board on leasing it and were told the same amount and dates they could race and obviously they didn't like the deal either because those people aren't leasing it either.

To some extent the biggest thing that hurts weekend racing in this area is the local Lakes area about an hour away. On Friday evenings in the summer a lot of people leave town and don't come back till Sun. evening. Schatz's tried Weds. night racing but that comes with its own set of issues and reasons people don't show up as well. This all on top of the fact within about an hours radius of Fargo there are 6 other tracks that run weekly shows.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

I think Schatz tried make this place work from several different angles, and props to him for doing so, not many people are willing to stick their neck out on something that looks like it is going downhill fast. Trouble is , I attended school in the FM area in the earlie 90's it seemed the car counts and the crowd was sufficient, I cant completely believe the lakes are to blame for poor attendance, Hell, most the people I know will stay home all weekend if there is simply a chance of poor weather, thus racers -racefans are similar I guess, with the population of Fargo Moorhead Ii don't understand that tracks at lower populated areas in ND can survive, It just doesn't make sence, The FB simply doesn't want the track and letting the grass grow over the top of it is what needs to happen then I guess, its a uphill battle with no end in site, until personel on the board are exhausted their duties, the roar of engines in West Fargo will just be a memory, Its too bad non the less, RRVS was a unique place I always had a good time there, the track change was not as controversial as I would have thought, ADA continues,Jamestown continues,Buffalo continues and there sits RRVS ... BUT my first Outlaws shows as a kid was at the "fastest track in the upper Midwest" I still Loved the 1/2 mile

I hope from my first post it didn't sound like I was blaming the Schatz's at all for the track not running, just like you Dirtdevil I applaud them for the 3 years they ran the place and did what they could, if they hadn't IMO, RRVS would have been closed 3 years ago. I just wanted in the worst way for them to be able to make it go and keep it going but it didn't happen and in most respects I blame a fair board that doesn't know about racing or care whether it go's on out there or not.

I know that the new contract the FB wanted them to sign was not good as well as Danny and the whole family I think were getting sick of putting all kinds of time and effort into the racetrack and races all to go out there and work on Sat. night and then be complained at and yelled at by 40 different people for 40 different reasons. 1 night last year I saw a group of Canadians almost get in a physical fight with Danny after the All Star race got cancelled because of a rain shower and rescheduled and they wanted a refund on the spot and he told them they could either use the ticket for the rescheduled show or take it to Petro the next day and get the refund or mail it to Petro and out of the 4 guys about 2 of them would not drop it and finally had to be escorted out, all over a $20 ticket. Don't rip me for saying they were Canadian, I have no problem with Canadians, I just knew thats where they were from.

As far as the Lakes thing, I know that alot of those people may not be the ones to go to the races anyways, but I bring it up because Danny actually changed the races from Fri. night to Weds. the first 2 years they ran the track and cited that as 1 of the main reasons. The problem that later came out of that is as soon as they gave up Fri. night racing another local track, Fergus, jumped on it and took the Wissota sanctioning for it, so they couldn't just go back to it cause Wissota then said, no another track in too close of proximity already has Fri. night and same with Sat. night. Thats why last year they ran Sat. nights unsanctioned.

I also am very dissapointed in that the track isn't running cause I truly did go out there most race nights and went to a ton of WoO races there over the years and had alot of good times. I could go on and on about the ins and outs of what happened here because there is alot to the whole situation, more than just pointing a finger at 1 thing, but in the end I think the Fair Board really sunk the boat cause I believe if the contract would have been decent the Schatz's would have resigned it, but it wasn't so they walked away and I don't hold that against them 1 bit.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

your exactly right, I hope the fairboard continues to reserve the rights to their 10 acer empty lot for Big Iron and the half attempt for a fair, and the rest of the racing season it sits empty, I simply just don't understand the negative outlook on something for visitor attraction to a (already) established venue, Shouldn't correct marketing see the possibilities of profit to themselves and the community? racers don't eat?sleep? drive vehicals? shop? what? what, am I missing here? Greed and laziness are to blame... the past three years were borrowed time thanks to Schatz, it should have been shut down sooner. Schatz isn't a big door car guy, but his expectations to keep the track functioning for the weekly racers was case in point, the specials were where he might offset the costs of the weekly counts,if that backgate did not finance itself, Afterall RRVS got Tony Sterwart night,Allstars WoO,Nosa... Four large races in the same year, and this place still struggles! we traveled completely across the state to try support the efforts of this very topic, One man just cant do it alone.. and his back was against a wall.. no cooperation from the fairboard, now they have absolutely No profit, and that's just the way it needs to be. Im glad no other interested parties bit on the boards exotic pricetag, If Schatz as a racer, and a buisness man, couldnt pull it off, in my humble opinion nobody could.. thanks for the memories RRVS

Speed, was that $20 in American currency? well, wouldn't that roughly be $17.35 Canadian? jus sayn.... take care.

And to think, for that kind of money they could have probably went over to Petro and just got credit to the Iron Skillet and got all the French Fries and Gravy they could eat.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

What a waste of a beautiful racetrack. Solid concrete grandstands are not something I've seen at other dirt tracks in the area. great parking and concessions. Remember the glory days of the late 90's when the Fargo WoO race was a 3 night event, and TNN did the last night live? Hell, as if three nights of racing wasn't enough, the after parties at the Kelly and Holiday Inns were reason enough to be in Fargo every 4th of July weekend. I have not travelled to other parts of the country to catch races, but was told by different crew members that the parking lot parties in Fargo were only beat by Knoxville and Chico's Gold Cup. Just a great event all around. Great attendance. Then TNN disappeared, and three nights became two again, then one, and now? I think the track is gone for good. The FB are NOT race fans. So sad.

Dirtdevil or Hohm, you guys going to Grand Forks and Fergus this weekend?

http://gph.is/XMLGff

Just Grand forks.

How about you all? Weather is looking a bit iffy, rain possible, for GF Friday, but I'll be there.

Yeah, I'm going to both. It seems like every year this June race in GF has to have rain issues possible, its just this time of year when it seems like Thunderstorms are a daily possibility. Just have to hope they miss or pass by quick.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

Unfortunately, just as a spectator, motor woes disrupted our competing efforts, but, as the wife says, "its only three hours away, so, we gotta go!" , ahh, I knew I trained her right.. I purposed to her(at the racetrack) on my birthday , that was 11 years ago, the following weekend we dodged the limelight of congratulations and she attended her first WoO race at RRVS, shes been hooked since.. Fergus should be a neat new adventure, heard good and bad things there, whichever, its warm out, and I can just wear a sweatshirt.. sadly, I can deal with rain, sub zero and another four feet of snow was getting old, we got two chances this weekend, hopefully we get one of them in.. fingers crossed Friday's weather cooperates too..

ya, its amazing how some people can look through a different tint of rose colored glasses. I just see red? FB see's roses? huh, that's funny ... take care .. hope you found a new hideout for your fix.. CA, has some awesome places to my understanding..