After 2022 officially I-80 is no more.
Joe Kosiski just announced at the I-80 Speedway banquet that the 2022 season will be the final season.
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After 2022 officially I-80 is no more.
Joe Kosiski just announced at the I-80 Speedway banquet that the 2022 season will be the final season.
Sell it or tearing it down?
Both…………..
Unfortunate, racey place!
This seems to always happen to best tracks. Then we have places that are terrible that somehow seem to be able to survive. I dont want any race track to close FWIW, it just seems to go that way.
What a shame to see this track and event go away. I have been to every Silver Dollar event. Hopefully Kosiski's can find another venue to move the race to.
The place to move it too is Eagle. Eagle is a great track & facility.
Kosiski's are retiring from the racing scene. Only savior would be if someone purchased the track and everything to keep it a track, if it has not already sold to be bulldozed down. Sad indeed. Tracks in the area are getting further and farther between. Especially ones that would run SLM shows.
other place to move this race is husets, got the track and $$$
Not necessarily true. They have a lot of irons in the fire and this helps them to alleviate some more time. As Joe stated at the banquet, not having the track will allow them to put more time towards the SLMR East and West Series'. So they will still be in the racing scene.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bforwarned
maybe should let this drop off the board but been thinking about what the kosiski family has meant to my fandom of this sport and moreover what they have meant to racing out this way.
Bob was a legend when i was a kid. wasn't my favorite (Charlie Summers #138 Harlan Iowa) but when he was in a race, he was the one to beat. didn't meet the man until many years later, long after he retired from behind the wheel. Maybe one of the most gracious legends i ever met. And in my experiences, if Bob was there, family matriarch Grace was somewhere near.
a generation later was joe, steve, and ed. racing professionalism at the local, regional, and even national level. they raced and won everywhere. Hawkeye Racing News was always full of articles and pictures of their successes.
personal stories of interactions: too many to mention. ed at adams county speedway. steve at freeport pits. joe's wins at iowa state fair speedway winning me a bunch of beers. and the first wdrl race in the bitter cold at davenport. but one stands out: wandering the pits at a track somewhere right after they purchased I-80. Just a stranger (me) ran into joe. congratulated him on the purchase. he pulled out his race check folder and pulled out the article from the omaha world herald. he seemed as proud as could be to share the story. and right then i knew with his pride the effort he would put into the venture.
fast forward to today... been watching Bob and Grace's grandchildren continue the racing tradition. but the decision to step away from I-80 has me feeling old. a well deserved retirement.
but (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word), what they have meant to racing in this area!!! not sure what will take the place for the weekly racers in the area. hopefully all will find a place to continue to race. the last thing local racing needs is the loss of a weekly program. but i guess the area teams survived when sunset speedway closed...
last call: thank you to all the kosiski's. i have great respect for all you have done and what it has meant to racing and to me. best wishes to whatever the future may bring.
Nice story klem. As a younger man I always liked when the Kosiski’s would show up Lebanon, Mo ------- I wonder if flyboy has a story too. lol-haha
Great stuff, Klem. This is what old 4m was about. Being from Lexington, KY, my early knowledge of the Kosiski’s was only from reading about them in Mid American Auto Racing News. And then seeing them at Eldora for the World 100, and Pennsboro for the DTWC. They are truly one of the great families in the history of the sport.Quote:
Originally Posted by klemmabyna
Yes Husets would be the answer.
Aside from the Kosiski family having immeasurable influence on dirt late model racing they also delved into ARCA dirt racing during the mid 1990's. Steve was very competitive on the dirt in an ARCA car at Springfield, IL, Du Quoin, IL and at the now defunct Indiana State Fairgrounds Mile as well as at WVMS and I-80 when ARCA ventured onto those two 1/2 mile's.
We've had the pleasure of attending a couple of events at I-80 and the facility and the people in charge were both upper echelon.
They have a 5 million offer for the LAND not as a track. They bought the track knowing that would be the end game eventually. Same as Eagle things are expanding that way. Eagle would be sold also as soon as someone wants the land bad enough.
If a buyer comes in and wants to match the current offer they will take it so it can stay a track.
The track is surrounded by open land. It’s crazy someone would pay thst price plus the cost to demolish it with other land in the area.
It’s not as surrounded by open land as one would think. 5 years ago to today….. you can tell the track is getting swallowed up. Anybody that takes the exit off the interstate can tell some development is taking place.
CoPart and others are coming every piece of green grass at that exit.
Good stuff Klem.Quote:
Originally Posted by klemmabyna
I remember when I-80 opened. I was 9 years old and couldn’t wait to go. It was like nothing like I’d ever seen before. Big grandstand, state of the art(at that time) facility. It was first place I saw a big late model race, ump show in 1995. First place I saw a WoO sprint car race.
When I-80 closes, that’ll be it for national type shows in the state outside of the midget shows at Jefferson County. It’s certainly a death blow to racing…. Especially late model and sprint car racing. I-80 was the only track that had both pretty regularly.
Few hours away so don’t attend I80 often. Couple SDN’s, couple regional late model events, couple weekly shows when in the area and one of the best mod events ever saw, The Clark Memorial. Not much bugs me more than when I feel a promoter takes my admission dollar for granted, never felt that way at I80. Feel bad for dirt fans in that region because it’s a loss to them. Hard to see how anything can replace it given the Kosiskis brought knowledge, respect, track prep know how, and resources to the scene. Not things that new tracks and promoters have right out of the box.