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Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Posts: 5,677
Total Cats: 800
That place is beat up! If they have the funds and motivation to get it back to good working order they should pretty easily turn a profit with the circle track cars alone. Not to mention all the other events they can hold. Our local circle track has an event 2-3 times a week. Sometimes 4. Plus all the swap meets, auctions, external events they have.
That place is beat up! If they have the funds and motivation to get it back to good working order they should pretty easily turn a profit with the circle track cars alone. Not to mention all the other events they can hold. Our local circle track has an event 2-3 times a week. Sometimes 4. Plus all the swap meets, auctions, external events they have.
Apparently it's only been out of action for 3 years... last races held summer '17. Just shows you how quickly nature takes back over in a tropical climate like south Florida. But I agree, assuming a bunch of knucklehead YT idiots can get the insurance squared away and an actual crew that knows how to run a business, no reason they can't open the track as a track and not just a playground. On the other hand... what for? Granted, they're not as big as Dude Perfect or some other mega-YT-stars, but they're pretty big for the genre. Hell, if I lived close and had a business they could use like landscaping... I'd give him a half-day each month with my crew for free use of the track and birthday parties for my kids. Maybe they'll work out some non-profit aspect and have "Teach a Vet to Drift Days" or Make-a-Wish or some **** and write off the whole place off every year.
But in any case, he already has "Cleetus and Cars" and the drag-strip next door is where they make a lot of their videos... it's not like they don't already have history there. He's only gonna get bigger, and as long as he stays out of politics and sticks to car stuff and 'Merica, I'll be a fan.
I watched a little, but I'm amazed they didn't have someone come look at what it costs to repave before buying. I think they're going to be in for a shock when they learn how much.
Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Posts: 5,677
Total Cats: 800
We did our parking lot at work. Was $180k for like 90 spots that was 4" thick, then a main driveway where semis back in sometimes that was 6" or 8" can't remember exactly. This is with reusing old base / grinding old stuff up and no added drainage. Concrete was much more.
The blacktop parking lot i WANTED was like 220k. But corporate wasn't having it.
Edit* looking at google maps, i'm gonna say it's going to cost at least 200k for 4" of blacktop just because they will need a base and probably some drainage. Not sure how good blacktop is for burnouts, i believe you want concrete.
Only concrete i've ever done is wire and fiber reinforced 6" thick stuff for fork trucks and heavy semi traffic. Can't say it would apply to a simple burnout pad.
The track and figure-8 setup has always been concrete. They do want to "pave" the entire interior of the circle-8 for a giant burnout/drift/hoonigan pad, which will likely be big bucks since it's currently dirt and they'll have to a full prep. There's also chunks/divots/sinkholes in the track itself that look to be historically bubba-type fixes that'll need attention.
I'm gonna assume that all the old employees who worked there for decades are gonna come out of the shadows and help'em with some of the buried bodies or quirks of the place that may not be obvious. You can tell from the walkthroughs that this was a pretty legit small-town track. I've been to much larger facilities that weren't set up or maintained as well as this place was in it's prime. There were some people that clearly loved this place for a long time, and they've all gotta be local and still in the area. I'm really hoping Cleetus is gonna want them onboard. And I really hope that as they transition from "Desoto" to "Freedom Factory", that they keep the nostalgia of the old place alive for the locals and don't just completely shitcan everything that came before them.
I can't wait for the kids that broke in and trashed a few things start bragging about it and somebody turns them in... make'em come clean up and pay for damages. Kids love to brag.
They whole place they bought is 36 acres, and it's right next to the dragstrip that is in current use.
Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Posts: 5,677
Total Cats: 800
He's got ideas. Stuff like this has the potential to make him a lot of money.
His channel has 1.8 million subscribers, if only 100k of them buy the race for $10 and he makes a million off it. That will go a long way. $10 is a little steep for me, i'd like to see $5.
The last few weeks for that crew has gotta be an intense ride. I bet that every time they turn around, they run into something they know is gonna cost them $50k. I bet they've got a dozen $50k projects and another half-dozen $100k projects, and at least one or two they know eventually will cost more than the track. I know they have dreams of creating a really legit facility. The bulk of just getting the thing up and running is cosmetic... weeds, paint, minor building repairs, fenceline, etc... really small potatoes, especially if they get some professional bro's to cut'em a break on the work. They're not gonna get any serious financial backing, but if he just took donations and you got your name on a brick on the infield wall when they build their drift pad... like when you walk into a museum and there's the "Platinum Donors" and "Gold Donors"... at different levels.
But for any event, they've gotta have ambulance, fire, you know... actual trained people for emergencies... INSURANCE!!! That **** isn't cheap. Even if it's just Cleetus and his buddies out ******* around, they've still gotta have something... but to hold an event, sell tickets to the public, free event... all gotta be legal because one lawsuit without good insurance and lawyers, they're finished, and not just the track, they'll be done done with all of it.
Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Posts: 5,677
Total Cats: 800
To hoist one hydroplane race you're looking at around 50k, but can easily be 70+ if all classes are involved. Cheaper ones without the GP boats and one crane can be done for 25k. So i can identify with how much an event costs. Even if there isn't half the amount going into one compared to a boat race.
I'm not sure they can sustain with just the youtube events. There just isn't enough actually going on for that.
I gotta say, the cosmetics are not bad. That track doesn't need much work to be better than our local circle tracks. Both auto city and flat rock speedway are in pretty rough shape. But like i said, they host a TON of events. Concerts, flea markets, drifting, figure 8, demo derby. All of it. Just to make ends meet and stay open.
Once they get it all done and settled and have a few events, start breaking even in a few years...the farms next door will sell to housing developers an in 10 years there will be no circle track or drag strip.
02-03-2020, 01:20 PM
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