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This cant be good

Hollywood Hills Speedway Closes the Doors with the Buddy Taylor Memorial

San Felipe, NM (May 11th, 2009) - The 30th running of the Buddy Taylor Memorial will draw a close to the era of Hollywood Hills Speedway. The closing of the facility was unexpected by track and casino officials and is a tragedy for New Mexico motorsport fans and participants.

Officials met in Phoenix, AZ to discuss the future of the speedway as it was revealed that the facility would be closing due to unsafe conditions of the masonry structures at the track. The main entrance and concession building have been deemed unsafe by engineers in an inspection prompted by track and casino officials. This building will be shut down immediately and temporary ticket locations will be established in order to proceed with the final 2 races at Hollywood Hills.

"The closing is unfortunate as it seems that great things were beginning to happen at the speedway" commented Ron Brown of Casino Hollywood "The speedway has some issues and we felt it was too much liability to keep it operating. This is really an unforeseen turn of events and is truly a sad day for Casino Hollywood and the speedway."

"We had big plans for Hollywood Hills" stated Benji Lyons "We were caught off guard by the news today and feel badly for the racers of New Mexico. We truly wanted to give them a place to call home but this is out of our control. We will work hard to make the last two events at the speedway very special and let Hollywood Hills go out with a bang."

The Barnett Harley Davidson UMP West Modifieds will headline Armed Forces Appreciation this Saturday May 16th with a full card of racing action. The Modifieds will be joined by Hobby Stocks, Street Stocks, Cruisers and Dwarfs

The final curtain will fall on Hollywood Hills Speedway as the ASCS Sprint Cars and AMRA/RMMRA Midgets take to the track in Honor of Buddy Taylor. Sprint car and midget drivers from all over the southwest will be on hand competing for more than $30k in purse money. The Discount Tire ASCS Sprint cars will set their sites on the $2500 to win grand prize while the AMRA/RMMRA Midgets will shoot for a $1500 winners share.

Mini Sprints will also be in action completing an open wheel trio that fans will not want to miss.

Hollywood Hills Speedway is located between Albuquerque and Santa Fe off of Interstate 25 exit 252, just 10 miles north of Bernalillo. For more information please, contact the track at 505-242-6484 or additional information regarding Hollywood Hills Speedway can be found at www.hollywoodhillsspeedway.com.

Jeff Kristensen

You have GOT to be kidding me!!!! They're dropping like FLIES out here! What's next? Do they really expect us to believe that they cannot operate the track because of structural problems with those buildings??? The track is FINE!! Ever heard of concession trailers and temporary offices???? C'MON people!! What's the REAL deal???

There has to be much more to this story. Tedrichard is correct, you demolish these buildings and replace. Whats the big deal? Now, if they determined that the concrete footings for the stands was inadequate, that's a reason. What about the Casino itself? I have been there but didn't recognize what type of structure it is. Probably pre-engineered metal, as most are. Why was this decission made is Phoenix? Someone out there knows the real reason, let the rest of us know. A sad day for Indian Country.

WaDo, Roger

I was there with SCN Radio in spring of 2002, for the first ever WoO show. We arrived a day early and they were still painting the place. We broadcast from the 2nd floor of the building they say is a problem. The top of the granstand was still under construction then. I don't get it at all. It's only 7 years old. It was concrete and steel. It was a concession stand and the tribal suites back then. What's the rest of the story.

 "We have met the enemy and he is us." 

I guess that the Hollywood Hills folks never got a certificate of occupancy in the first place; a well constructed mortar and block building has to last more than 7 years....

I guess that since it is on Indian land, they cut a few corners..........

Chuck.....

I agree there is more to this story. I remember when the track was being built, every one was talking about how big the budget was to build the track.

I took pictures of it during construction, as it was on my way to my fishing hole at Cochiti. I would stop and take pictures every time I went by. I knew that last layer of dirt they put on the track wouldn't work. I stopped just as they were getting ready to put it on, and they said they had found a great spot "just down the road" to get it. I thought, 6 Mill for the place and crap on the track. The outlaws didn't get the qualifying in that first night, but the first 5 or 6 cars were bad fast until they started almost flying out of the place between 1 and 2..

State of the art sound, and it seats 10,000.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

I guess that since it is on Indian land, they cut a few corners..........

Sprinter25, that is very possible, as bad as I hate to think it. And they probably didn't have to have a C of O unless it came from Tribal jurisdiction. The owners, the San Felipe Tribe are a very small group and the construction of the track and Casino surely stretched their resourses (if they had any) thin. With few exceptions all work on Indian Trust Land is exempt from any City, County or State permits, codes and inspections. (As it should be) However, every contract that I am familiar with and all those that I ever reviewed or managed contained specification language requireing all work to be completed in compliance with local and state codes and I'm sure that was the case at Hollywood. Where things fall apart is when the subs don't control quality and General contractors and Owners don't follow up with quality assurance. I bet the meeting was in Phoenix because that's where the G.C. or Construction Management group is located. And yes the mortar and block should last more than 7 years. My guess is that it never was safe because it was not constructed to spec and never inspected. Hopefully the Tribe has documentation enough to back up a claim for damages from the Contractor or Manager.......Look for a big lawsuit between the Indian and the White Man.

WaDo, Roger

Maybe the entrance, that you can see very plainly in my picture is questionably, but the grandstands are top of the line materials, and just a big erector set to stand. I looked them over very well Roger, because I've ran crews assembling similar structures. It was a very nice job. If you look at the open spaces up top, that became the press box etc..All good work in the grand stands..

Kenny

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

I was at HHS opening night in 2001 with the Outlaws and have been back several times and trust me the facility is top notch. They really need to come up with a better story because I can tell you the biggest problem that track has is the tribe. They cannot sell alcohol of any kind and anytime they get someone in who knows what they are doing, they run them off. The track is fine, again I tell you the problem is the tribe.

If you ever wanted to see a track with structural problems, you should have gone to Duke City Raceway when it was still open….Talk about rundown but you knew no matter what they were going to put on a show!! I would take an old track to a new track any day.

Tribal leadership can make a big difference in these kinds of situations. It could be as simple as the land the track sets on is needed for casino expansion. It's a no-brainer that gaming machines or blackjack tables make more money per sq. ft. than motorsport events.

From personal experience, I know that my tribe, the Cherokees, had a golden opportunity a few years back to be the event sponsor for the Chilibowl for a very reasonable amount for an extended period. The marketing department leaders were Harley fans and not dirt track racing fans and decided to buy a number of Orange County Choppers. What they spent would have paid for the Chilibowl sponsorship for many years.

WaDo, Roger

this would be a good time for Emmet Hahn and co. to build a track or 2 out in NM and/or Arizona.

Anyone who looked at Manzy and HH results frequently - as well as ASCS Southwest/Canyon Regions (and other sanctioning bodies out that way) - knows there are enough racers out there to support it. And ASCS has much to do with the regions open wheel racing.......

I think Emmet could pull this off. Look at everything he has pulled off already.......I know there are a shitload of particulars....but......if anyone could swing it - Emmet could (or help/advise). I hope he's lookin into this as we speak.

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