You are talking about municipal spending, not private development. If the people trying to develop this project want to do it, it won't require public funds.
Race Track Proposed in DeFuniak Springs
- Thread starter James Bentwood
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This is a positive thing. The infrastructure that we need, at least immediately, is already in place. The intersection of I-10 and 331, coupled with plenty of available land, is a perfect placement for this sort of facility. The infrastructure is already there. Sure, we would need a new hotel or two for major races, but the majority of people coming in would have their own accommodations. This would do nothing but bring money into the county. It also adds another entertainment venue for the county, which makes more money in sales taxes.
A ton of development could result as well as overall growth. And this could be a very good thing for North Walton County. Very interesting.
If we go back to the a fore mentioned Kentucky Speedway, when they finally got a race, it was proven that state infrastructure was not up to par. The state then spent 3.7 million to upgrade a road that is used one day a year.
I still think there is a ton of pie in the sky in this. Why build a facility in Northwest Florida when facilities to road race aren't that far away?
The one thing I feel pretty certain about is that NASCAR tracks are not built on the Field of Dreams "build it, and they will come" business model. Any true NASCAR facility would have to be in the 60,000 to 70,000 seat range for any Sprint Cup hopes, but keep in mind that NASCAR means more than Sprint cup. Xfinity and the truck series run some of their races on much smaller tracks.
I can't see a full on Sprint cup facility. Heck, neither Atlanta nor Talladega are coming close to selling out these days, and neither Bruton Smith nor ISC group are going to allow a dilution of their pool.
A road course would be cool.
I don't see it happening, but it's fun to talk about.
I can't see a full on Sprint cup facility. Heck, neither Atlanta nor Talladega are coming close to selling out these days, and neither Bruton Smith nor ISC group are going to allow a dilution of their pool.
A road course would be cool.
I don't see it happening, but it's fun to talk about.
I'm all in! Nothing worse than driving 200 miles to go Bentley shopping
A recent article in the NWFL Daily is touting the possibility of a race track development in or around DeFuniak Springs.
It also mentions a "tie in" business in South Walton.
Two things here:
1) DFS & DOT need to first address the traffic hazard / nightmare of coming on to the off ramp from I 10 East and then TRYING to turn onto SB 331... It is a huge safety hazard and if its hard to do this time of year, just wait for Spring Break 2016. Here's someones chance to do something proactive and not reactive (ie, Hwy 98 and 83 Detour).
2) The mention of "tie-in" business to SoWal is nothing more than code speak for "get our hands on all that TDC Money collected by South Walton Bed Taxes". They will stop at nothing from trying to raid the coffers of the Beach $$$. Especially now since their on-going scheme to defraud the taxpayers has been outed.
It also mentions a "tie in" business in South Walton.
Two things here:
1) DFS & DOT need to first address the traffic hazard / nightmare of coming on to the off ramp from I 10 East and then TRYING to turn onto SB 331... It is a huge safety hazard and if its hard to do this time of year, just wait for Spring Break 2016. Here's someones chance to do something proactive and not reactive (ie, Hwy 98 and 83 Detour).
2) The mention of "tie-in" business to SoWal is nothing more than code speak for "get our hands on all that TDC Money collected by South Walton Bed Taxes". They will stop at nothing from trying to raid the coffers of the Beach $$$. Especially now since their on-going scheme to defraud the taxpayers has been outed.
So..... I backed off a bit after some of the thing's I've heard. I still believe that it's going to be a semi-private road-racing track. It will not be a NASCAR Super-Speedway, like Kentucky or Talledaga.
Yes, the problem with Kentucky was it was a 2 mile NASCAR track which means even with full spectator capacity, you are only looking at 70K. That doesn't require any additional investment from the county for roads. We are already doing that.
Yes, the problem with Kentucky was it was a 2 mile NASCAR track which means even with full spectator capacity, you are only looking at 70K. That doesn't require any additional investment from the county for roads. We are already doing that.