Three Palms Speedway

Has the electricity been restored yet???

Has the lease been paid yet?

Is it soup, yet?

According to FPL online there is no power problem at TPS now.

That being the case are they racing or not this Saturday?

Just in case, I would consider making backup plans–perhaps at Desoto Speedway.

The Boneman will be there in his winged demon.

the last posting on their facebook page as of 331 pm Tuesday june 16th was posted in the early morning hours of june 13th when they had posted they weren’t racing that night.I would think it is safe to assume the ship has sunk.

Maybe someone can find out if the lease can be transferred. If not, this will likely drag on until midnight of the day the lease is up.
Other than the lack of grandstands, i wonder how many other things haven’t been rebuilt or repaired.
I heard that it’s far more likely that Cope would be interested in Citrus rather than Three Palms, but you never know.

OMG they haven’t posted to FB for three days? It’s over Johnny.

Actually, they have updated FB. Wait for it…NO RACING THIS WEEKEND!

But all is not lost! There is drifting all weekend!!!:anim_pound::anim_pound:

Then it is over!

PS It’s called a powerslide and you didn’t invent it whippersnappers.

Unfortunately they don’t choose to post on here for some reason. So you will not get an answer from them on here. They choose to post all stories and race results on a site from up north. All that being said hopefully they Will soon be moving back up north and taking their Three Palms with them !!! These people have to go. They are ruining racing in Southwest Florida.

Elmer, I think it is a bit of a stretch to say that they alone are ruining racing in s.w.Florida.That being said we all have to face some cold hard facts here.In todays economy and the value of todays dollar being what it is,how many of us could truthfully make a go of a business that only utilizes 4,maybe 5 days tops a month to pay all of the bills?Bowling alleys are disappearing about as fast race tracks and they operate pretty much seven days a week.The same could be said for drive in movie theatres and several other business ventures.We went to Desoto Saturday and my brother sat next to Denny Meyer who operates the place and said all that Meyer did all night was piss and moan about how much the late models cost him in payout that night and the general expense of keeping the gates open to the place.And I will tell you the crowd wasn’t that impressive and for that fact the racing wasn’t either.The only blacktop tracks that are going to survive in the future are the ones that no longer involve a big lease payment or bank note.Such as the Hart family at New Smyrna or the Nuckles family who operate Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio.Simply because they own these places and no longer have that big lease or bank payment involved.I truly feel for the Haase family because I know they didn’t open the place with the intentions of things going this way but the reality is they should have been drifting on Saturday to pay their bills and racing on sunday to have money to operate.And then figure out uses to bring money in the place on wednesday,thursday and Friday.Car shows,concerts,racers swap meets etc.

I’ve noticed there’s a lot less money being spent on Desoto to fix it up. After a breakout year last year, it’s kind of settled into same ol same ol.
Tracks are going to have to be a lot smarter about how they utilize the 6 days a week when they aren’t hosting a race.
That’s one thing i’ll give the people at 3 Palms, they planned to do kart racing, music concerts, driving schools, drifting, and everything else they could to make the place go. They just don’t seem to be very good at it.
The story of Orlando Speedworld Dragway is a good example of what planning and promoting can do. They have several events per week there, and they let every possible competitor and racer know what’s scheduled and when. They bring in sponsors. They give everyone a chance to race, no matter how weird the vehicle. If it passes safety check, they race.
How is that successful? Go on their facebook page and notice a couple of things. Number one, they’re almost finished with a complete re-surfacing of the race track. They dug up the asphalt, and replaced it with concrete. How much you figure that cost? Also notice the comment, i’m not certain which thread it was on, but when drifting was mentioned, one drag race was surprised to learn that there was an oval track out there. Sounds like the oval sure did a bang up job of promoting.

I’ve noticed there’s a lot less money being spent on Desoto to fix it up. After a breakout year last year, it’s kind of settled into same ol same ol.
Tracks are going to have to be a lot smarter about how they utilize the 6 days a week when they aren’t hosting a race.
That’s one thing i’ll give the people at 3 Palms, they planned to do kart racing, music concerts, driving schools, drifting, and everything else they could to make the place go. They just don’t seem to be very good at it.
The story of Orlando Speedworld Dragway is a good example of what planning and promoting can do. They have several events per week there, and they let every possible competitor and racer know what’s scheduled and when. They bring in sponsors. They give everyone a chance to race, no matter how weird the vehicle. If it passes safety check, they race.
How is that successful? Go on their facebook page and notice a couple of things. Number one, they’re almost finished with a complete re-surfacing of the race track. They dug up the asphalt, and replaced it with concrete. How much you figure that cost? The area oval tracks can’t even seem to get the pits paved or the lights and speakers to work.
Also notice the comment, i’m not certain which thread it was on, but when drifting was mentioned, one drag race was surprised to learn that there was an oval track out there. Sounds like the oval sure did a bang up job of promoting.

Some answers to a few of the questions asked earlier in this thread (not all … but some, since TPS is not the main subject of the article):

http://www.hoseheads.com/richard.html

Yes, that put things in perspective. At least where the sprints are concerned. When the Hamilton series came around, i really thought sprint car racing would take off in Florida. If for no other reason than there would be two series competing for fans which you’d think would keep both clubs at their best.
I’ve said before that i think all the necessary decisions by both clubs should have been made long ago. It doesn’t appear that they were, there was a lot of gamesmanship back and forth.
The tracks got tired of it all, and decided to put on their own sprint car races with whichever drivers wanted to race. No clubs to deal with, no infighting, no last minute surprises with car counts. I love sprint cars, and i’m just pulling for the sport itself to prosper.