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You get what you give.
Too bad the industry giants don't
open and manage tracks in the interest of increasing and sustaining riders. Or maybe outside companies like all the ones sponsoring the college football bowls could be sold on the concept. Or open a casino with a track next to it. I dunno ....
very very sad to see this place go.
How badass would it be, to see manufacturer owned tracks all throughout the U.S.
man a guy can dream.
-Get like a 10$ discount for riding at your brands track etc. Damn if i was a Ceo of one of the corporations, id completely do that in a heartbeat.
The first race I ever watched was at Southwick, an NESC event in 1995. I was hooked. It was the first National I went to, and my first ever NESC race. Lots of great memories in that sand.
to try it, they seem more progressive than others. Imagine having that year's model line up (125/150/250sx, 250/450 sxf) available at their track all year round for riders and new potential riders to the sport having the ability to try out the bikes and or sport. Or if FOX had gear rentals available as well to go along with the bike tryouts. Heck, a person can go to a ski lodge, rent
everything and get their feet we .... MX should follow the plan?
RIP
Find another sand Track in the near future!
im all for variety
but I love sand tracks
. Both watching and riding.
Pit Row
Moto338 will be missed.
R.I.P Moto338
I hate to say it but Southwick was no where near what it used to be these last couple years (track wise). Go on youtube and watch any race in the mid 90s like 1996 and it was wayyyyyyyyy rougher. Seems like since 2007 when they dozed the track after the motos, it was never the same. Southwick was known for being rough and sandy but turned into, kind of sandy / hard base with somewhat rough at the national. The locals no longer had that big advantage and the second moto lap times weren't far off from the first moto. I also think the direction of the track and removal of the woods section including the frog pond, really made a big impact in the decline of Southwick.
The sand was literally removed from the bikes after 4+ decades of racing. If you think about it, every bike that left the track was covered in sand, now times that by say 400+ riders, times 2 motos each a weekend for 30+ weekends a year and that's a lot of dirt and that's a low average!
I don't think this will be the end of it, just waiting for new promoters to take over.
There is, however, a pre-existing land issue that the new lease holder was not made aware of until very recently and he is actively addressing the issue.
He has already purchased several pieces of equipment and expected to start reconfiguring and updating the track and facilities but this issue is delaying the start of any work. He is very passionate about bringing the 'Wick back and will do everything he can to make it happen. Stay tuned...
But that website is Diane's, and we all know that she and Ralph have retired. But the wording is odd, and does make it sound like things have really come to an end for the facility. But with the release of the 2014 NESC schedule, and various other New England racing schedules, none of which have any mention of Southwick, I suppose it does not look good.
NESC racing without Southwick is like eating a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich, but without the peanut butter!
Without scheduled racing at the facility for 2014, I find it hard to believe that the track can continue to exist - that is unless the new owners are taking a bridge year or something, and have the funds to carry it in the red for a year or so.
Can anyone confirmed that Mike Grundhal (or however you spell his name) is confirmed to be taking it over? I know he was talking about it and even put out a oddly worded press release back in August, but I also know that his deal was not signed at that point in time, and have heard several issues have popped up.
Does anyone know any specifics?
Hopefully some more information comes out about this.
Mike is the one guy who has the passion and funds to carry the thing while he gets it sorted out.
I hope that Southwick will come out swinging in 2015 and will host plenty of NESC, NEMA, NEMX and whatever other odd ball events they host, like the Jeep racing and the quad stuff.
What exactly are the issues that he is facing?
I could assume it is stuff with the town, and conditional use permit stuff? Hopefully it nothing that a few town meetings wont clear up...and that Southwick will continue.
Mike met with town officials yesterday and will do everything he can to resolve it to everyones satisfaction as soon as possible.
Obviously this throws a monkey wrench into the works and will cause a delay but at this point the goal is to be operational this year. That being said, the solution to the land issue may require renovations to the pit area or possibly relocating the pits elsewhere on the property but that is speculation at this point. Right now it's a matter of going through the process and seeing where it goes.
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