Thursday, June 19, 1997

Plans for race facility still alive

By Ted Dunnam / Abilene Reporter-News

The game plan for a multi-purpose racing facility in Abilene is alive and kicking, according to Paul Lenker, but the one major ingredient to make it go full speed ahead - money - is still missing.

"Mike (Dohrse) and I are still very optimistic about it," said Lenker, president of Abilene Motor Sports Inc. "The guy we thought was going to be our investor, he came down here and said he was too old to get involved.

"Needless to say, that was disappointing to us. But now we've got four or five local investors that I think are looking at it very seriously."

What many people don't understand is that a multi-purpose facility wouldn't even need spectator support to make it work. Testing alone would pay for the facility in time.

"We looked at some figures not too long ago," Lenker said. "A friend involved in Indy racing showed us contracts of drivers that rent major tracks. Those drivers or teams pay in the vicinity of $5,000 to $6,000 a day to test.

"And Abilene would be perfecdt for that. The weather would be conducive to test here virtually 12 months a year. Obviously, there are limitations to testing or the teams with the most money would rent a track for an entire week. But everybody who races needs to test, and Abilene is certainly an ideal place.

"The track, though, certainly wouldn't be dependent on spectators, although the research we've done has shown that, as a conservative estimate, we could put 20,000-25,000 people in the stands."

Lenker said that would be for second-level NASCAR events, truck races and NHRA races.

AMSI officials aren't making a half-hearted effort at this, either. They've been working diligently for several years to bring a multi-purpose facility to Abilene.

They've talked to Tony George, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as scheduling officials with NASCAR and NHRA.

"We've talked to all of the major sanctioning bodies. We've gone as far as we can go until we're moving dirt," Lenker said. "Nobody's told us 'your idea stinks.'

"We're in what could almost be considered a tug-of-war right now. We've been trying to get the city to come forward and take a stand. We've also been trying to get local groups to come to the table.

"We've done 12 or 13 events here, and we've proved to be successful with them. It's just that we're in a very conservative environment. But I think these four or five local investors are looking at it very seriously. It's just a matter of getting them to say yes."

Hopefully, someone will.