| Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | |
Hendry County Motorsports Park News
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HCMP Media
Fans are eager to see Florida's southernmost dirt track back in action. We know this from the steady flow of e-mail and phone calls asking about the date for opening this year.
"I am as anxious as everyone to get the track open," Ken Kinney stated a few days ago. "With the overwhelming support of the local businesses, drivers, crews and fans, it keeps us motivated to move as quickly as we can."
One of the major obstacles has been the time consuming work of getting certain areas of the speedway up to County codes, particularly the restrooms and septic systems, grandstands and the fencing around the track.
Another issue Ken Kinney is determined to resolve is the creation of a first class racing surface. This has involved locating the proper clay, arranging for its purchase and transporting the new material to the speedway.
Another issue which has plagued the track for years and limited the facility's ability to bring in rally big events has been the parking, or actually the lack of parking.
As race fans and drivers who are familiar with Ken Kinney all know, he does things first class as evidenced by the great shows he has brought to Hendry County in the past.
In the past two months he has been working with County officials to correct many of the issues the County has had with the track.
Huge progress has been made in creating a solution to the lack of parking. A five acre parcel just east of the speedway, known as the "mobile home graveyard" has been obtained through an agreement with the owner to make the parcel a permanent part of the motorsports park complex. This effectively increases the property of the speedway substantially and opens the door for bigger events, and thus increased revenues and viability for the track.
The revamped septic system and new restrooms is well under control at last. On March 20th Rick Ortiz, a local septic tank installer completed his work on the news sewage pumps and lift station required by the county to re-open. Holt's Electric is taking care of the necessary wiring to make them operational.
Several years ago an incident involving a sportsman car damaged the front straight fencing, a situation that has never been fixed to meet the County's standards. "Just recently Marty Howell of Coloosa Fence, working the track's engineer H.L. Bennett have handled the problems with the security fencing, making the track safer and in compliance with the county's wishes", Kinney explained.
Kinney was quick to praise the response in general from fans and drivers. "I can't say enough about the job Larry Thacker has been doing, and the amount of hours he s putting in getting things in shape around the track, Kinney stated.
He also noted that David Augspurger, father of local driver Christian Augspurger, has been an enormous help over the last few months. Kinney explained, "David has helped with funds, fixed all our problems with the grader and loader, and people need to understand how important it is that this equipment works well and reliably."
The situation with the clay seems to be close to resolving as well. An agreement was reached two weeks ago to purchase the clay locally, and the digging which has been stalled for one thing or another is scheduled to begin shortly. While clay from afar can be purchased at good prices, the cost of bringing to Hendry County is prohibitive, especially in this economy, where dollars have to be spent very wisely.
Ken Kinney repeated several times his excitement about getting things rolling at Hendry County Motorsports Park, but he cautioned fans and drivers, " While I am extremely excited about the prospects of opening the track, but until we have the right racing surface with new clay we will not have the big late model races or major sprint car shows".
Kinney is still leaning toward opening in April but there is the possibility of a delay if things don't fall into place as they should. He pointed out that though it is about 50-50 among fans and drivers whether to open immediately or be a little more patience and get it right, he is in the track ownership game for the long haul and wants to create something fans and drivers in South Florida will be proud of.
Announcements about the opening date and also the many sponsors who have come on board to support Hendry County Motorsports Park will be coming next week.
-News release prepared by KARNAC Media |
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