High Plains Raceway information meeting 10/18

[The GECCO]

Oct. 18th High Plains Information Meeting

You are invited to attend a High Plains Raceway Information Meeting. If you have questions or are just seeking additional information on HPR, please attend. The meeting it is intended to bring you up to speed on all recent developments, progress on the Capital Campaign, and to answer any questions. It is open to anyone.

Time: 6:00 doors open, 7:00 presentation begins. We'll be done no later than 9:00.
Place: Red Lion Hotel, 14th Floor. This is the tall circular hotel on the north side of Mile-Hi Stadium. (1975 Bryant St.)
Date: Thursday, October 18th.

The Red Lion has a nice restaurant/bar on the 14th floor. You can come early to grab a drink at the bar (Sorry, cash bar) or order some food. Or you can stay late and do the more of the same since the restaurant/bar is open late.

Visit the EVENTS section of the track website, www.HighPlainsRaceway.com for more information. We'd appreciate an RSVP for head count purposes. Either call 303-757-0868 or use the CONTACT US page of to send an email RSVP.

Bob Alder, Capital Campaign

Hope to see you there!!

[McVaaahhh]

I'll be in Vegas, but post up some info afterword.

[JustSomeDude]

I just RSVP'd. I'm in there like swimwear!

[JustSomeDude]

Just got back from the meeting, and I have to say it was EXTREMELY informative. There was a lot of info, so I will try to pass on as much as I can to the best of my recollection.

1) Timing. The rumors of "they're laying pavement - we'll be riding in the spring!" are wrong. The team has finished the design, been approved permits and zoning, and all they need is a USR (Use by Special Review) from Arapaho County. Once this is approved, they will be prepared to CLOSE on the property. The funding for this phase is ALREADY AVAILABLE. Basically, left over funds contributed by the 5 main CAMA clubs to Second Creek have been transfered over to the High Plains capital campaign, and will be used to secure the property. The goal is to close on the property by year end (THIS YEAR!). This would allow for grading work to commence in the spring, assuming financial needs are satisfied.

2) Money. As one person noted in the audience, the "thermometer" on the website gives an inaccurate perception of what is really going on. In addition to the money pledged by the 5 clubs, and donations from the capital campaign, it was disclosed that CAMA is setting up a "friendly loan" program with individual contributors. Those with the finances that allow it, have agreed to provide (very large) contributions to a newly created private loan company. This loan company will be made specifically for the purpose of making up some of the slack in financing the track. While there were concerns of giving private investors some control over the track, it was made clear that most investors are CAMA members. Additionally, three law firms are involved in the process to ensure both the investors are protected (in case CAMA defaults), and that CAMA is protected (from an overbearing investment group). Work is presently being done to finalize this legal documentation to allow this funding to proceed. The legalities should be completed within the next 2-3 weeks.

3) Usage. First off... THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE TRACK!!! The track will be owned and operated by CAMA, or an entity owned by CAMA. As such, the 5 CAMA clubs will have priority over usage... primarily weekends. This includes what was described as "the main 32 weekends". These weekends consist of the time from April-Oct. (which are the anticipated high usage months of the track.) While this had me slightly concerned, they did point out that the track may be rented on the few available weekend days by private clubs. Rental rates will be slightly higher for non-CAMA clubs (such as CSC). No rental rates have yet been determined. There was some discussion for allowance of "open days" on week days, but the details of such events is beyond their scope of concern at this point.

4) Track Details. All corners will have 1-2 degrees of banking, or be flat. There are no off camber corners. The tightest corner is an 80-foot radius hairpin (for comparison, turn 7 at Pueblo is 60-foot). However, there are some gnarly downhill/uphill sections that occur at corner entries/exits that will be pretty damn interesting. There is also a "corkscrew that is copied directly from Miller."

5) Visitation. Bob Alder, one of the spokespeople for this venture, will be offering a tour of the track site THIS SATURDAY. He asked me if I wanted to set up a firm time, and I told him I wanted to wait to see if there was more interest. If you are interested, let me know and I will give you his phone number. I just don't want to post it directly in this thread. If there is interest, meaning, at least ONE person, he'll gladly meet you at the cafe off the Byers exit at 10am, Saturday the 20th to show you the property.

One person asked quite simply, "what's your gut feel of this thing happening." The gentleman in charge of finances (who's name I forget) simply replied, "I can tell you right now that I'm very confident this track will be built." After hearing the things discussed at this meeting, I am too!

If any of you have been reluctant to donate, I strongly suggest you think twice about it. The guarantee was repeated at tonight's meeting... "If for some reason this whole thing falls through - ALL MONEY WILL BE REFUNDED!"

[Redflash3]

Thanks for your time and update of the HPR meeting! Do you think there will be enough opportunities for trackdays, track time like Second Creek or club track events?

Thanks,
Redflash3

[JustSomeDude]

Thanks for your time and update of the HPR meeting! Do you think there will be enough opportunities for trackdays, track time like Second Creek or club track events?

Thanks,
Redflash3

To be quite honest, I'm not sure because I'm not familiar with how Second Creek ran. HOWEVER, Bob said that High Plains will be operated very similarly to how Second Creek was run by CMC (via CAMA), because the same clubs that ran Second Creek will be running High Plains. Taken directly from the High Plains website FAQ: "...the collective five-club group, operating as a DBA of CMC, successfully 'pulled off' rescuing and operating the old Second Creek facility."

So if the same clubs allowed open track days at Second Creek, I would anticipate them at High Plains as well. Unfortunately, those details won't be defined for some time, so no guarantees could be made at the meeting.

[Redflash3]

Thanks.

[*GSXR~SNAIL*]

Good stuff Dude...thanks.

[pilot]

I missed a swilling event at the SkyBox? Crap. I remember when that bar only had two six-packs and one bottle of whiskey.

Thank you for the excellent write-up and for your attendance at the meetings.

Go HPS!