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  • Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

    This was posted to the BMW list...

    http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/14065645.htm

    Southlake couple investing $3.5 million to turn prairie land into a racecourse

    By SANDRA BAKER
    STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

    A Southlake couple has purchased 441 acres near Decatur in rural Wise County where they are initially investing $3.5 million to build a Formula One-style auto road course that could be ready by September.

    David and Linda Cook said they expect the course, about an hour north of downtown Fort Worth, to be certified this year by the sport's toughest standards established by Formula One racing's governing body, Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, based in Paris.

    The track will also meet Sports Car Club of America and Grand-Am standards, making it suitable for road cars, motorbikes, super bikes, and vintage and legend series cars, the couple said. The track will be available to clubs, such as the Ferrari Club of America and Porsche Club of America, as well as offer private memberships, the couple said.

    If it receives the FIA certification, it would be one of only a few tracks in the United States to have the rating. The couple also hope to be far enough along in the track's development to host international races by 2008, as well as other major, sanctioned races for professionals and amateurs.

    The development is being called Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park. It is in eastern Wise County, near the Wise-Denton county line, off Farm Roads 51 and 455.

    The couple, who have an extensive background in auto racing, said they expect the development to draw car and racing enthusiasts from throughout North Texas and across the country. The speedway could spur commercial development nearby.

    "It's definitely going to impact the environment economically," said Linda Cook, who has been racing since 2001 and was the first woman to enter the Canada Grand Prix Ferrari Challenge in 2004. "This is a serious undertaking."

    David Cook, a native of England, came to the United States as a radar engineer with General Dynamics in the 1960s. An entrepreneur, he has owned Sonaca MNF, the largest producer of wing panels for regional and business jets. His family has been involved in the aviation industry since 1917. He has been involved in motor racing since the 1970s, once competing in rallies in England.

    Wise County officials expect the track to increase the number of people traveling to the area, particularly on weekends, County Judge Dick Chase said. That would increase sales tax revenue for many of the surrounding cities with hotel rooms to rent and restaurants to serve the visitors, he said.

    "It's a good addition. I don't see this as a detriment," Chase said. "It's something that could grow over the years."

    Bulldozers have been out scraping the path for a 2.5-mile racecourse. After additional engineering is completed, asphalt will be put down in the coming months, the Cooks said. The track will eventually have a clubhouse and tower, as well as spectator seating at various spots.

    The track is north of Texas Motor Speedway, which features NASCAR races, as well as road-course-style events. Formula One cars have one seat and an open cockpit and travel at speeds of about 200 mph. Drivers race on tracks that feature twists, right- and left-hand turns and switchback curves. NASCAR racers have traditional auto bodies, and drivers race on an oval track with only left-hand turns.

    It took the Cook's more than two years to find the right topography and enough hills and valleys to replicate a European countryside, where Formula One racing has been the motor sport of choice for decades.

    "There's a lot of flatland in Texas and in the northern part of the state," David Cook said.

    The land has elevations of 70 feet in some parts, which will allow spectators to see to the far side of the course.

    "The beauty of this is the piece of land," Linda Cook said.

    Norman Lindley, a Fort Worth real-estate broker, said the couple wanted to be near the area where Interstates 35W and 35E meet, making the track accessible from Fort Worth and Dallas. They bought the land from Gene and Mary Niblett in Denton.

    Steve Watkins, a real-estate broker with Scott Brown Commercial in Denton who races Porsches as a member of the area chapter of the Porsche Club of America, said the new track will be a good alternative for car enthusiasts and clubs that mainly drive locally at the MotorSport Ranch in Cresson.

    "North Texas is a huge market and we have only one place to do this right now," Watkins said. "It will be a huge draw. There are a lot of elevation changes, and every change makes the course more challenging and more exciting for the drivers."

    Rob Lay, a Southlake resident and amateur Ferrari racer for the past five years, said it will be good to have a professional-level track. He said other developers have planned tracks for the area in the past several years, but they've never able to complete their projects.

    "I really hope it's successful," Lay said. "I'm a huge Formula One fan."

    Eddie Gossage, president and general manager of Texas Motor Speedway, said that the more likely use for the course is for club-car enthusiasts.

    "You're talking about they guy down the street that has a sports car and likes to drive fast," Gossage said Thursday from Las Vegas, where he is attending a NASCAR race. "They are participant-driven races, rather than spectator-driven."

    Texas Motor Speedway has an infield road course that is used about 150 times a year for sports car-style racing. The course has four variations, with the longest being 2.3 miles. It incorporates the racing oval, but it also includes an area on the interior of the track.

    Formula One traces its roots to the European Grand Prix of the 1920s and 1930s, but the first Formula One race was held in 1950.

    One race on the 2006 world championship series is in July in Indianapolis.

    "Texas is a great place to do a track," David Cook said. "You've got good weather year-round. It's a good location. Texas has a lot of energy. People are progressive here."
    -Sean Martin
    2009 Pontiac G8 GT

  • #2
    Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

    Eventually, I see us evolving to track dedicated cars and wheel to wheel racing... like a few have already done....

    With the price of STU tires, the jump might not be so much of a stretch.

    What a hoot to have a bunch of us with CMC or American Iron cars....., but indeed it is the next level in Cody's Pyramid of Speed.
    Toth: "I would sue Duck, but I don't know what I would do with 3 pennies and a hoopty GTO."
    Me: "I never finish anyth..."

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    • #3
      Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

      March 10, 2008

      Vorshlag Motorsports L.L.C. buys Eagles Canyon Motorsport Park for $500,000.
      Brian Hanchey
      AST Suspension - USA

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

        Originally posted by hancheyb
        March 10, 2008

        Vorshlag Motorsports L.L.C. buys Eagles Canyon Motorsport Park for $500,000.
        Man, they stuck you with the $3M it will take to pave it? "gOOOSh"
        Toth: "I would sue Duck, but I don't know what I would do with 3 pennies and a hoopty GTO."
        Me: "I never finish anyth..."

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

          I think spec 7 or spec miata would be before AI or CMC just because of cost and experience.
          '11 Mustang GT / '95 Frankenpreza

          "A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster."
          - Dr. Clarkson

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          • #6
            Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

            Originally posted by Dean!
            Man, they stuck you with the $3M it will take to pave it? "gOOOSh"
            I should have said

            "Vorshlag Motorsports L.L.C. buys the now bankrupt Eagles Canyon Motorsport Park for $500,000."

            See the date.
            Brian Hanchey
            AST Suspension - USA

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            • #7
              Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

              Anyway we can talk them into building a large autox pad as well??
              McCall

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

                I think they are being a bit ambitious with "FIA certification by September"? That's a huge, huge paperwork and political quagmire. I hope they have secured local rights to keep the track long after suburban crawl encroaches into their "noise zone". Deep, deep pockets are needed to pull this off, even as a club-racer track. Formula 1 though??? That's unlikely.

                As far as some or all of us progressing to NASA or SCCA Club racing? I doubt a large percentage of the autocrossers here will make the jump. Of the handful of solo2 friends I know that have made that leap, only 1 (Wirtz) has really stuck with it (and he has bee-bopped around between cars, classes and racing bodies). The others I know have all gone back to Solo2. Well, there's Costas, too, but who knows what hes racing at any given time.

                Costs to run a semi-competitive, <200 hp (yawn) club level road racing effort have to easily exceed 10X that of a Nationally competitive Solo2 effort of like design/power level. It's not just the cost of the initial build that is so much more (safety costs go up from the cage, fire suits, helmet, seat, etc) but the ongoing maintenance costs that are so much higher. New tires every weekend (if you want to win). New brake pads and rotors every 2nd race. Engines, suspensions, everything wears more quickly. Entry fees are typically 8-10X higher than Solo2. One off track or car-to-car incident can blow your racing budget all to hell. That risk never happens in solo2.



                I think a non-competition DE level track car is the next step past Solo2 in the pyramid of crack spending speed, but some of the folks here that have done those events semi-regularly get frustrated with the lack of competition and yet still significantly higher costs & risks. Competitive road racing, even at the club level, has a lot of politics involved too. A rule change could render your max effort 2006 car hopelessly uncompetitive in 2007 - and then who would ever buy it from you? This keeps many DE drivers from making the SCCA or NASA leap, I feel.

                But with 3 road racing venues in DFW... that could increase competition between the course owners and potentially lower costs for track rental and subsequently racing entry fees. But I doubt it. If Wirtz or Costas or anyone else with club level road racing experience chimes in here with different data, I'm listening. I've heard the costs stuff from others but not them.

                Pessimist Fair
                Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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                • #10
                  Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

                  man if I didn't know any better I'd say that was photoshopped.

                  Notice how the terrain around the track doesn't even look disturbed? Also, where are all the construction roads and site buildings? When they built VIR in VA, they build those first and then added the track.

                  Strange...
                  McCall

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                  • #11
                    Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

                    Apparently they already have some motorcycle race planned for October 2006... so they will be open

                    Sorry... meant This track.
                    Last edited by Redwood; 03-14-2006, 10:37 AM.

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                    • #12
                      Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

                      I have not bounced around between series for any other reason than I could. When in school I raced Formula Vee and D Sports Racer because that was what my dad had and I did not want to spend the $$ on my own car. Out here in Texas, I ran ITS for 2.5 years with the white Datsun. I ran CVAR, SCCA, and NASA just because I wanted as much seat time as I could afford.

                      Bought and sold the car for $10K. It was a very good car locally and probably could run halfway decent at the ARRC if I wanted to spend the time / money to prep for it. I track all my expenses and it averaged $800 per weekend. Including money I spent to make upgrades to the car and to fix damage and of course the maintance. Entry fees is the #1 item at ~ 260 / weekend. Tire cost and parts are tied for 2nd. The weekend costs can be much lower if you chose your class correctly. One of the reasons I am moving to CMC is the spec Toyo tire. NASA also gives more track time for the same entry fee, so that is how I am going to lower costs. But really I am going to CMC because they look to have the best field counts in TX.

                      No two ways about it, going to RR involves money, but then again I love it like nothing else. HPDE is a good way to get started and to get the high speed thrill, but the competition side is hard to find without making the commit to go road racing.

                      Jeff

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                      • #13
                        Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

                        I sent Tunnell the link. I thought this was funny. I'm SO buying that land next year.

                        If I had a dollar for every story like that I've read over the last 20 years
                        I could build my own track.

                        I wish them well, but Formula One??? They'd need to move the decimel point
                        on that $5.3 million over a couple places to the right to build a complex
                        suitable for F1.

                        I'm afraid it's going to be just one more rich guy about to become a little
                        less rich. Hope I'm wrong though.

                        --BT
                        Brian Hanchey
                        AST Suspension - USA

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                        • #14
                          Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

                          Whoa! Satellite pic of new F1 track!

                          http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.99...6,0.003138&t=h
                          "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." - Benjamin Franklin
                          http://www.duckfest.net

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                          • #15
                            Re: Eagles Canyon Motorsports Park

                            Originally posted by duck
                            Whoa! Satellite pic of new F1 track!

                            http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.99...6,0.003138&t=h
                            hahaha... we've run at that sorry putt-putt go-kart track.
                            Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                            2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                            EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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