Spokane Motorsports Park

NEWS RELEASE from Spokane County

admin — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:01:04 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Spokane County Reaches 25-Year Agreement with

Austin Motorsports Management, LLC to Operate Race Track

SPOKANE, December 16, 2008 – This afternoon, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) signed a 25-year agreement with Austin Motorsports Management, LLC to operate the Spokane County Motorsports Park on the West Plains. According to Austin’s business plan, the agreement will bring an estimated $40 million in projected revenues to Spokane County. By signing the agreement today, the BOCC achieved several goals for the race track: increase tourism, provide a location for street racers to compete safely, create new recreational opportunities for residents, and pay for the acquisition of the property and improvements at the site.

Austin Motorsports Management, LLC is owned by Bucky Austin, a successful businessman who has been involved with racing for a number of years and operates a chain of auto repair shops in Western Washington. Austin is expected to sign the agreement by the end of the year.

According to the terms of the agreement, Spokane County will receive a base rental fee of $10,000 a month for the first five years, along with $2.00 from every admission ticket. Effective in year six (2014), the base rental fee will increase by 2% annually over the remaining life of the agreement. The County’s share of the front gate receipts will also increase. For example, during the first year of operation the County will receive $2.00 for every admission ticket that is sold…with a guaranteed minimum of $150,000. In 2010, the guaranteed minimum will increase to $200,000, and in years 3-5 (2011-2013), the guaranteed minimum increases again to $250,000. With a combination of the base rental fee, front gate receipts and admissions tax funds pledged by the City of Airway Heights, officials are confident that over the life of the agreement, the County will more than cover the costs associated with acquiring and improving the track.

In addition, the agreement stipulates that the operator will invest a minimum of $2,000,000 in improvements. Plans are already in place to bring national-level events to the track. The agreement also provides a 25-year renewal option for the operator.

For more information, contact Parks, Recreation and Golf Director Doug Chase at either 477-2720 or 953-9060. Public Information and Communications Manager Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter is available at either 477-7195 or 263-9385.

County reachs agreement with Austin Motorsports Management, LLC

admin — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:49:41 +0000

The County has reached an agreement with Austin Motorsports Management, LLC for the operation of the Spokane Motorsports Park. A press release should be available tomorrow and will be posted as soon as it’s available.

2009 NHRA ET Quick Ref Chart

admin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:45:41 +0000

Attention Spokane Drag Racers: View the 2009 NHRA ET Quick Reference Chart. This will give everyone an idea of what is going to be expected of them as they go through technical inspection.

Jay Livingston of Austin Motorsports Management is working on finding a place to hold an NHRA Tech Day on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 in the Spokane area.

On that day a number of services will be available:

NHRA Chassis Certification (for cars that run 9.99 & quicker)
NHRA Extended Tech Inspection (for racers who are NHRA members)
NHRA Rulebooks will be available for sale
NHRA Competition Number
NHRA Membership (Discounted rate for new members)
NHRA Physical Forms (for those needing a NHRA License 9.99 & quicker)
NHRA License Forms
Spokane County Raceway Competition Number (for all drag racing events)
Spokane County Raceway Points Registration (for the 13 race ET Points Series)
2009 Spokane County Raceway Schedule (rough draft)

The track also has a new phone number: 509-244-3333. It goes to voice mail right now, but if you leave a message someone will get back with you.

Public Workshops

admin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:41:35 +0000

Spokane County Parks and Recreation and the City of Airway Heights invite you to public workshops to discuss recreational possibilities at the Spokane County Motorsports Park, formerly known as Raceway Park, in Airway Heights. Workshops will be held on Saturday December 6th and Saturday December 13th.

Click here to view the flyer which contains more information.

Working Towards a Final Agreement

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:31:43 +0000

Bucky Austin Racing and the County continue to work towards finalizing the lease agreement. An agreement of this magnitude lends itself to an iterative process. Bucky Austin Racing has presented the county with a first draft of the lease agreement. At this point the County is working through the necessary steps to address some outstanding issues and pull together a revised document that they will first pass by the County Commissioners. Once that happens, the agreement will go back to Bucky Austin Racing for review and perhaps another round of revisions. This is a very long and complicated document and both parties are working diligently to come to a final agreement. Please continue to check back for updates.

Motorsports Park Master Plan & Survey

admin — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:29:17 +0000

Chance to win a free IPOD

News Release
Spokane County Motorsports Park Master Plan
October 20, 2008

Baskervill Motorsports Design, a leading designer in motorsports facilities, (www.Baskervill.com) has been hired by Spokane County, Washington to master plan the Spokane County Motorsports Park (SCMP).

The SCMP site encompasses approximately 340 acres of which the interior 200 acres is the motorsports park facility. The SCMP motorsports complex includes: a 2.5-mile asphalt paved road course used for sports car, motorcycle, go-kart, bicycle racing and driver’s training events; a one-quarter mile drag strip; and a one-half mile paved oval track. The balance of the site will also be master planned for a future law enforcement training facility and other recreational activities.

It is rare to find an existing motorsports facility that offers road, oval and drag strip racing at the same facility. Combined with Spokane County’s motocross and ATV operations on the adjacent site, this site offers a motorsports experience that is rarely found anywhere in the country.

To that end, Baskervill is soliciting opinions from the region’s racers, crew, race fans and park users via a web based survey to determine “what should or could be done” to improve the facility. At the completion of the survey, this data will be used to complete the master plan. This is the first motorsports master plan where the users will have input in the final design recommendations. This detailed survey covers everything from questions about the current facility to services and amenities the respondent would like to see at the track.

In addition to the web based survey, Baskervill and Spokane County will be hosting a two “roll up your sleeves” design charettes in Spokane in November, 2008. This will afford local users the opportunity to hear and suggest ideas related to improvements that might occur at the facility. Dates for these charettes will be posted on Baskervill’s and Spokane County’s web site once the dates are finalized.

The survey can be found at the link listed below. Upon completion of the survey and entering their contact information, all participants will be entered in a drawing to win an iPod for their efforts.

Survey Link

Join the Motorsports Park Mailing List

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:55:59 +0000

I’ve set up a mailing list to share news and information about Spokane Motorsports Park. I’d encourage everyone to join it. The list is not a replacement for the information posted on this site. Rather, the mailing list will be used to send out periodic information and important updates related to Spokane Motorsports Park.

You can learn more about it and sign up here.

Commissioners approve selection of Bucky Austin Racing

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:34:06 +0000

Today the County Commissioners approved the selection of Bucky Austin Racing for lease operator of the Motorsports Park. The next step is for Bucky Austin Racing and the County to work on the contractual negotiations. The goal I’m hearing is that both sides hope the contractual negotations can be completed in the next 4-6 weeks.

Additional info about Bucky Austin proposal

admin — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:43:31 +0000

There was an article in the Spokesman Review Northwest section today entitled “Driver in the lead to run racing park” which you can view at: http://spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=265150

The information in the article is probably familiar to most who have been following this. The article reported that Bucky Austin proposed fronting the $2 million for improvements, as well as paying the county a monthly lease fee of $10,000 per month. There was also mention of Austin putting $5 of every ticket sold into a county fund.

At this point the recommendation of selecting Austin as the lease operator goes before the County Commissioners on Tuesday, October 21st. If approved, the county will begin negotiations with Bucky Austin Racing to formalize an agreement.

County recommends Bucky Austin Racing for Operator

admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:19:25 +0000

On Tuesday, October 21st at the County Commissioners meeting, the county will announce their selection of Midway Muffler & Radiator d/b/a Bucky Austin Racing, As the Spokane County Motorsports Park operator.

The commissioners will consider the recommendation. Once approved, the county staff will immediately begin working with the operator to develop the actual agreement. Once county staff and the operator believe they have an agreement which is acceptable, said agreement shall be brought before the County Commissioners for consideration.

A press conference regarding Spokane County Motorsports Park is scheduled for October 21st at 2:30pm. It will be at the East Entrance to Spokane County Courthouse, W. 1116 Broadway Ave. [In the event of inclement weather, the press conference may be moved to the Public Works Bldg., 1026 W. Broadway Avenue, Hearing Rm. Foyer, Lower Level]