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Seems the Family Earnhardt has decided to build a new motorsports park facility in south Alabama. The facility will have a 7/10 mi hi bank oval (kinda like a cross between Richmond and Bristol?), a 1/4 mi drag strip, a dirt oval and a 3.5 mi course. In addition to Dale Jr, and his brother and sister, some of the other principals include the former mayor of Mobile (the closest large city), a former congressman, a grand-am racer/developer, and other luminaries of the south Alabama rich guy scene. .
Now, you might rightly ask what (or why) does a guy living in Scottsdale AZ know about (or even care about) a track being built in the swamps of south Alabama. Well, the top end of the dragstrip (according to the drawing for the Prichard site) is within a mile of where I was born and raised. And my brother lives even closer! I talked to him about it today and he says the Mobile site is pretty much a done deal as much of the land has been bought already. It is 3000 acres with no existing buildings and it sits next to what we in the south call a creek. Out west it would be a raging river. The site has excellent access and is about 3 miles from I-65. The roads surrounding the site have already been (or will soon be) increased to 4 lanes.
The other possible site is loacted close to Gulf Shores and does not have any of the same access features as the Prichard site. All the betting in the area is that it's a done deal and ground breaking is any day. With track availablity in early 2009.
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That will be excellent, but I'll wait until the concrete is poored. Over my many years in the SCCA, I've heard of over 20 tracks that were a done deal in the D-FW, Houston, and New Orleans area. Only two have appeared. One of them may go away soon, and the other one is on shaky ground. That said, I hope it comes about. It'd sure be nice to have a shorter tow to a popular site.
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Check out the wedsite at wwwalabamamotorsportspark.com
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I am in for the first weekend they let us out on course.
I can not wait.
Carver
