I never went out to the Champion Speedway to watch any races, but for anyone who did, the latest news coming out of there has to be pretty sad. The Speedway was open for 42 years at the south end of town, past Stewart Street along Bigelow Drive. The racetrack was home to many car races over the years, but dwindling attendance and noise complaints from new neighbors led to the owners being more and more frustrated with operating it. When developers approached them, wanting to buy the land for a housing development, they eagerly accepted.
That was three years ago. The housing development has been delayed many times since then, and the racetrack has become a hotbed of graffiti and vandalism. The Grandstands and announcer booths have been demolished, splinter by splinter, by local vandals. And the trash and debris has been scattered all over the track. Now Carson City wants the developer to at least clean up the land so that it’s not a public hazard, and the developer is still dragging their feet.
Until then, the old racetrack is a post-apocalyptic mess of graffiti, bashed-up buildings, and trash. NewsCarsonCity had the story last week, and the Carson Times followed it up today. Head over there for pictures and video.
