There's one more race scheduled in October but the weather doesn't usually co-operate so this is it. The last official race before the track closes for good next year. The Last Hurrah Labor Day Weekend Race City Motorsports Park Calgary Alberta Hosted by the Calgary Drag Racing Association Saturday September 5 Last Man Standing Final pairing best two out of three Winner of race will receive 60% of the entry fees Sunday September 6 Guaranteed prize money! Six bracket classes Super Sportsman 7.50 - 9.99 ($1000 to win) Pro Sportsman 10.00 - 11.99 ($1000 to win) Sportsman 12.00 and slower ($1000 to win) Buy back class ($1000 to win) Motorcycles ($500 to win) Junior dragsters (A-side and B-side) Buy backs $20 First and second round losers in Super, Pro, Sportsman and Bike are eligible to buy into the buy back bracket Entry fees Saturday competitor entry fee $50 Sunday Bracket and bike classes $100 Juniors $50 Crew and spectators $10 Eight and under Free Time Schedules Gates open: 10:00 AM Saturday 9:00 AM Sunday Tech opens: 11:00 AM Saturday 10:00 AM Sunday Eliminations: 3:00 PM Saturday 1:00 PM Sunday Gates close: 11:00 PM Saturday 7:00 PM Sunday All racers must follow CDRA rules and guidelines (The track follows the IHRA rulebook)

$1000 payout isn't to bad.

Why is the track closing? Is there another close by?

The city has canceled the lease because the garbage dump right beside the track wants the land to build a storm sewer holding pond. It's all very political. They won't even compromise to rebuild the road course to incorporate the holding ponds making it a win/win situation. The original lease was to run until 2025.

The next closest tracks are 2-1/2 and 3 hour drives. One is IHRA, the other is NHRA. I'll have to get an NHRA license next year to compete at either track. NHRA will not accept an IHRA license. I'll now have to budget for road trips as of next year.

It's not just a dragstrip but also a 1/2 mile high banked oval and a 2 mile road course. The racers, like me, will still tow their vehicles if they want to race but the street legal crowd are not going to drive 2-1/2 hours after work on a Friday to make a few passes then drive 2-1/2 hours home again just to get a timeslip. That's providing they don't break something and their vehicles are still drivable. I've seen breakage on a Friday night.

I never got out last night but I heard the car count for a Friday night was huge and one person only managed 3 passes. That tells me that there were probably at least 200 cars which means there were probably at least 1000 spectators watching 16+ second imports going down the track. There's only a small handful of fast cars showing up on a Friday night and a few drag cars. Track prep is never very good since the street tires just rip it off the track.

The track is still in use this year and is available for rental. The organized racing on the weekends is only a small portion of what happens at the track. Every day of the week the track is rented out for something. Usually private rentals or driving schools. They're another group that will be hurting when the track closes.

Calgary's Race City Motorsports Park is unique in that it's a complete motorsports facility within the city limits of a city with more than a million people. The cost to build a new facility like this would be many millions of dollars. Anywhere close to the city and the land is too expensive. Too far out of the city (3/4 hour+) and the street racers and any rentals such as the driving schools won't want to travel that far.

The current location is perfect because it's in an industrial area however the city doesn't understand the need for a motorsports facility in a city this large.

$1000 payout on Sunday isn't bad. If 10 cars show up, each paying $100 to enter the class, the payout is still $1000.

Saturday could be an even better payday. $50 to enter. All cars in one class. Winner gets 60% of the entry fee. No subsidiary prize. You win or you get nothing.

If 20 cars show up to race on Saturday, that's $1000 in entry money. Winner gets 60% so $600. If 100 cars show up, that's $5000 in entry fees and the winner would get $3000. Saturday night could be a huge payday for someone. To make it interesting, the last 2 cars to make it into the final round will run best 2 out of 3. We all know that we screw up one way or another. If you screw up once and lose the round, you get a second chance at the pot. Hopefully you don't screw up twice to give it away.

The chance of a lot of cars showing up is slim. There's another big 2 day annual race being held at an airport in Drayton Valley about 3 hours NNW of here on the same weekend. I think many of the racers who are willing to travel will attend that event.

Just gives me a better chance of winning. That would be nice. I won the first race I entered here back in 1997. It would be nice to win the last race held at the same track 12 years later.

Sucks to hear of tracks closing. Seems all to often the majority don't understand the important of a racing facility. - About the time it's too late to change it back, they'll realize how much street racing has gone up, and how many other problems arise from there not being a nearby track.