City Officials Need to Pull Their Heads Out
Written by David Lamm · October 6, 2007
As many of you have been doing, I have been following with close attention the progress of where the mystery 24th race for next year will finally land. My gut feeling says that the NHRA is holding that date for Bruton Smith and SMI to open a drag strip in Concord, N.C. on the property of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Now comes a report that the city officials there are in the process of drafting changes to an ordinance that would shut down work on the drag strip.
Charlotte Observer: Work continues at drag strip site
Firm has permission to do some grading but not for strip itself
If you do not read the entire article the one excerpt you should take away from it is this:
The ordinance allows Speedway Motorsports to build auto racing facilities on the property. The proposed amendment would add the words “except dragstrips.”
So what it is about drag racing and drag strips in general that the city officials have issue with? The common complaints of noise, pollution, traffic issues on races days, etc. does not hold water in this case. Lowe’s Motor Speedway already hosts big NASCAR Nextel Cup races. You can not tell me that a 43 car field does not already contribute to noise, pollution and traffic issues to the greater Concord, N.C. area on a NASCAR racing weekend. And the argument of, ‘the drag strip would bring noise and polluting fumes to hundreds of nearby homes’ does not have merit. I am not an expert on the housing situation near Lowe’s Motor Speedway but I am willing to bet that the race track was in place well before homes were built in the area. I have a simple solution for home owners that do not like the noise, traffic and fumes produced by the race track: MOVE! No one is holding a gun to your head and making you live where you live. Blame your real estate agent for selling you a bad home. Do not blame the race track. It is the same people that move close to the airport and then complain that 747’s are taking off and landing at all hours of the day and night. Hello? It’s a freaking airport. That is what they do there. The same argument goes for people who live near race tracks. I have no sympathy for these people and the city officials that bow down and cater to these people should not hold public office in my opinion.
If the city officials in Concord, N.C. choose to place an amendment prohibiting drag strips from being built on SMI’s property there, it would be a humongous, shortsighted decision. The amount of local revenue they would be missing is almost immeasurable. The construction costs alone for the drag strip and surrounding support facilities like corporate suites, timing tower, press room, pit areas, restrooms, etc. are estimated to run in the $60 million range. Those are quality jobs that will go to local construction workers that would be lost if the construction was disapproved. All because a few whinny neighbors are afraid of the noise. (I am willing to bet these are the same neighbors that are selling parking spaces on their lawns and backyards to the race fans at $20 a spot too.) The potential revenue lost that could be generated from hosting an NHRA national event would be massive as well. One NHRA race team has already booked hotel rooms in Concord, N.C. for Sept. 11-14, 2008, betting that Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s new drag strip will be hosting a national drag racing event on those dates. That is just one block of rooms already booked. Imagine the ripple effect and the economic impact on local retailers like hotels, restaurants, gasoline service stations, etc. Not only do the racers bring in a tremendous amount of tax dollars and help elevate the local economy but the fans do the same. Every race I attended while working for the NHRA I would see the local convenience stores near the race tracks always schedule double and triple the amount of deliveries of ice, POWERade, snack foods, beer, etc. just to meet the high demand. By giving the thumbs down for the drag strip to continue construction would be a huge mistake.
This phenomenon is not quarantined to just Concord, N.C. Many municipalities have these same short sighted politicians running the show. These local yokels are more concerned with boosting their egos and getting reelected than they are of seeing the big picture. Because race team owners, drivers, crew members, NHRA officials and fans are not registered voters in their city, they tend to not value their opinion. Under the guise of upholding ‘community standards’, they would rather protect their own reelection chances than do something that is good for the overall community. Pull your heads out people! Allowing Bruton Smith and Lowe’s Motor Speedway to build a drag strip on its property that is already zoned to host major racing events will be good for all involved. Sure, you might have a few neighbors complain about the noise and fumes but you can easily block out their voices by plugging your ears with the millions of tax dollars the community will receive as a result of hosting a huge race.
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5 Responses to “City Officials Need to Pull Their Heads Out”
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WELL SAID!
You’re a very ignorant person, the zoning amendment was passed on October 1, 2007. You should try to find a newer article on the subject before posting your opinion. Oh and as someone who was at the council meeting, the decision was unanimous 6-0 in favor of the amendment to prevent the construction of drag strips in the Public Interest District which is the Lowes Motor Speedway property :)
I’m guessing that there’s more to the story. Someone has probably brought up the fear that they won’t just have one national NHRA event but rather a constant bevy of activity at the new track to deal with. I understand that the Lowe’s complex has some kind of event just about every weekend. So throw in a drag strip and now you have one or two evening test & tune sessions per week along with a bracket event every weekend and now you get to hear the roar of the engines just about every night of the week in the summer. Personally I hope they build it especially if the rumors are true that it will be a four lane layout (no more time wasted waiting on oil-downs to be cleaned up).
Wake up people, the popularity of NHRA is skyrocketing!Every race is standing room only. NHRA needs to be in the Charlotte area and Charlotte will find that it needs the NHRA. Bruton Smith is a visionary. Listen to him, it won’t be too loud.
As I see it, David has way too much common sense and, as usual, politicians suck.