View Full Version : Large piece of asphalt...
Someone said there used to be a shoe outlet here or something. Nothing there now. This is the corner of 50th and I-4.
mofugga
09-26-2005, 08:53 PM
that's a lot of cars for nothing...
I hope that picture is old.
Loren
09-26-2005, 10:30 PM
As cool as the Googel Earth interface is, Terraserver (http://terraserver.microsoft.com) usually has more detail... and actually gives the date of the photo. The hi-res "urban areas" view of this lot shows it still being there on 5/10/2002. It's HUGE! Looks like it might be a distribution center for new cars or rental cars or something. There's a section of the lot with some car trailers that looks like it sees a LOT of traffic. And there's a good portion of it with bumper-to-bumper cars crammed together. The cars seem to be predominantly white, maybe 1/3 red, blue and green. Hard to tell if there are any light poles in it or not.
Anybody wanna recon?
Actually, it's not quite as big as it looks. The largest usable section is only about 450' square, doesn't give you much room for speed. (the infamously tiny SPC lot is about 600x300)
Keen eye, w0rd... keep looking!
oilleak
09-29-2005, 09:27 PM
No recon needed. It's the Adessa Auto Auction. You'll not have any autocrosses there.
Loren
09-30-2005, 09:26 AM
<sigh> There really is nothing new to be found around here, is there?
BeQuietAndDrive
09-30-2005, 02:36 PM
Is SPC Allstate not looking good anymore? I always thought it was a pretty decent location. Not as "big" as other area's I've seen but still fun.
Loren
09-30-2005, 02:50 PM
SPC is still an option, but it is always wise to seek alternative sites. They can and often do go away with no notice.
BeQuietAndDrive
10-02-2005, 02:30 PM
Ouch..I always liked it location wise, much closer than Brookesville or one of those locale's.
fastforward
10-04-2005, 09:34 PM
What about......
http://www.tamparacing.com/photopost/uploads/10690/track1.jpg
What is this? A dog track? I've been by there a bunch of times. I think it's off of Florida Ave and Hillsborough Ave. Does that make sense?...I dunno, I'm terrible with directions.
I know it's kinda in a crappy part of town. Maybe that's where we will find more useable asphalt. Areas with abandoned shopping centers possesed by property owners that would be happy to generate a modest little income from their empty, and mostly unused lot.
Loren
10-04-2005, 10:21 PM
Spotted it on the map. Tampa Greyhound Track (http://www.tampadogs.com/home.html). Looks promising. Anybody know anything about it or want to check it out?
BeQuietAndDrive
10-05-2005, 01:30 AM
I know for sure the parking lot is HUGE and is always empty. I drive by it every day on the way to school. It is a very convienent location as well, it's located right off of 275 North, after the I-4 exchange.
I too see the dog track lot everyday and have always wanted to go check it out. Traffic was real bad on I-275 when I was heading home from work last week, so I got off and before I knew it, I found myself down by the lot. It was lightly raining out so I turned in to have some quick fun (AWD). I slid around a little bit, however the asphalt there is pretty rough. It has the slick black sealant on it, so when it was wet it was like driving on ice. The whole lot also has raised cracks that zig zag everywhere and probably aren't so good for the sidewalls of our tires when hit in a drift. Wat actually seems like a much better lot to me (if we could ever get permission) is the other lot in the picture above. This is the lot in the left of the picture and it is the lot for K-Mart on Florida Ave. This lot looks like it could be a lot of fun because it has quite a steep (for Florida) slope to it. So to wrap this up, the dog track lot is huge and always empty, however it is kinda rough. Some of you should go check it out and see if the cracks are too severe to prevent us from possibly osting events there. I didn't really stay too long and check out the cracks, as I had just spun all over the parking lot and wanted to make a fairly quick exit. Maybe I'll stop by afterwork today and analyze it a little better. I bet they would let us host events there for the right price.
fastforward
10-05-2005, 02:09 PM
If you ever had the chance to race with the Martin Sports Car Club at the old Martin Plant location off Sand Lake Rd., you'd REALLY know bad surfaces. Hahahaa. If you could race there back then, I think its possible to race anywhere.
I think the dog track lot might be worth a closer inspection. Anyone that goes by there daily mind taking a few digital shots of the facility? Maybe we can then contact them and see if they are interested if we like it.
I thought about the K-mart lot too....it just has more cars on a daily basis. Not to mention, the dog track lot is a little further back and less noticeable to drive-by traffic. That could be good or bad. I think good.
RoadRacer
10-05-2005, 04:51 PM
They use hold kart races there in the early to mid 90's.... I haven't lived on that side of town since '96 so I don't know if they still allow events there.
Leonard
10-05-2005, 05:16 PM
IIRC, they had one of the Mazda rev it up events there a couple years ago. I also vaguely remember Dave Welsh talking once about having auto events there back in the 80's. I seem to recall him saying site rental being high.
OK guys, I stopped by the dog track lot today after work. I drove around slowly (and not sideways this time) to better check things out. The cracks aren't near as bad as I originally thought, but they are there. I wish I had thought to take a camera with me; I'll try to do that tomorrow. I thought of another great place to possibly host events...the Hillsborugh County Sheriff's Office Skidpad. I know that the Sheriff's office has some sort of driving program where they try to keep racing off the streets, what better way to do that than make their (our tax dollars paid for it) facility available for autocrosses or other driving events? I quickly tried to find it on Terra Server, but had on luck. It is out on CR 39 in Lithia. I have seen it from the air before and it is simply a large asphalt skidpad with no light poles...in other words, perfection. It is where the Sheriff's office does their driver training, they also have a gun range and a Boeing 737 out there. The jet is used for terrorist/hijacking training and no longer flies. I will try to get pics of the dog track tomorrow and maybe make some inquiring calls to see if we can't get something going.
fastforward
10-06-2005, 01:36 AM
Cool....take some pics and post what you find. I like that the dog track is centrally located.
Quick update: pics were taken today, I will post them later tonight if I can figure it out.
Blueboost
10-06-2005, 08:04 PM
No go on the sheriffs skidpad. My dads girlfriend is the driving instructor there and they never allow any civilians on the pad. (Ask me how many times I've tried :smirk: :angel: )
Maybe the Randy and the C.A.R.S. team could petition the county about this?
Leonard
10-06-2005, 08:09 PM
No go on the sheriffs skidpad. My dads girlfriend is the driving instructor there and they never allow any civilians on the pad. (Ask me how many times I've tried :smirk: :angel: )
Maybe the Randy and the C.A.R.S. team could petition the county about this?
There's a difference between you trying to get permission to go screw around and an insured organization like the SCCA approaching them to put on a sanctioned event.
Blueboost
10-06-2005, 08:21 PM
There's a difference between you trying to get permission to go screw around and an insured organization like the SCCA approaching them to put on a sanctioned event.
no no. I understand that. I've questioned her numerous times about it, and she states they have been approached before and declined to let anyone use it besides officers in training.
I'm not saying not to try. If you think you can get a major organization like SCCA to approach the sheriffs office, by all means do. Let me know what I can do to help.
Lola56
10-07-2005, 10:17 AM
With regards to the Tampa Greyhound lot, I never ran there.
I have heard stories that it was a site used by many clubs until a Corvette club ran there and dug holes into the asphalt at the start line, cars doing burnouts.
I have been autocrossing since 1981.
Back in the 70's and early 80's, before SCCA had an autocross program, there were several independent motorsports clubs in the Tampa area. Among these clubs were, McDill Sports Car Club, Polk Motorsports Association, USF Sports Car Club, and some others that have slipped my mind. These clubs became a part of a larger orginization, called Council of Tampa area Auto Clubs (CTBAC). CTBAC wrote a rule book and car classification system so members clubs of CTBAC would operate under a common set of rules.
I attended my first autocross at Polk Community College in June 1981. I was the Governor of District 4, CFR, and was at the June BOG meeting in Winter Haven. Howard Duncan attended this meeting and asked the BOG why CFR SCCA did not have an autocross program. The BOG responded by saying, "that is a good question Mr. Duncan, and since you raised it, tag, you are it." Howard left the meeting with the support of CFR in starting an autocross program. I spoke with Howard after the meeting to ask about SOLO II. He said that there was an event going on right then at PCC. I followed him to PCC, liked what I saw, and jumped right into the sport. At that event I met Bill and Elliot Harvey, and Danny and Sharon Shields.
By 1984, CTBAC faded away. CFR was able to hold events at most of the sites CTBAC ran on. Among these sites were: Golden Gate Speedway, engineering lots at USF, Sundome lot at USF, McDill AFB, Lakeland Speedway, SPCC ST Pete lot, Paradyne lot on Ulmerton, Brooksville Airport, Dunnellon Airport, various areas on the State Fairgrounds, I'll have to check the old Checker's to jolt my memory for other sites.
4 years ago, an effort was made to run at Sunshine Speedway. A CFR official (who has since moved out of state) know the folks that ran the speedway, and they were interested in having a SOLO event. Things never came through though. I know that the racetrack is not active, but I believe that the dragstrip is still active. Is there any chance of contacting Sunshine to see if something could be worked out? Or DeSoto Speedway?
Dave
I apologize for not getting the pics up last night, and they won't be up until Monday. I drove around last night and discovered that the Derby Lane track (on the West side of the Gandy bridge) is actually a much better lot. The asphalt there is much smoother than the Tampa Greyhound (I-275) lot. Hopefully, this weekend I can get ahold of some people and see if these lots are even a possibility. I'll try to get those pics up asap.
Loren
10-08-2005, 07:33 AM
We've looked at Derby Lane. It might be a nicer lot, and arguably a better location... there have even been recent auto events held there. But, it's not nearly as big as the Tampa dog track. Even with a little roughness, I'd prefer the bigger site.
Of course, it's good to investigate all options and try to get in wherever we can.
fastforward
10-10-2005, 07:59 PM
I have an idea....not sure if its a good one, but here goes.
I work in the TV industry and when we make plans for a new show we need to entice sponsors or if we are running a big campaign for a big client, we make a "Sales Video" to help sell whatever the client is pitching.
This 5-7 minute video highlights all the "Pros" for whatever proposal we are selling and trying to generate interest in.
Its a big marketing tool, and I've seen it work big-time.
I think this is something we can do to showcase who we as autocrossers are and what we do and how well the organization is run. I think a sales video might help us to promote ourselves to possible lot owners as well as sponsors, not to mention squelch concerns about how we race, etc.
I'd be happy to help produce something like this pro-bono for the club if it would help.
Additionally, if we find a lot we like, say the Greyhound facility for example, there has to be someone in management there that might be a "car guy."
We should try to find out who that guy/girl is aand pitch this idea to them....using the sales video of course.
Just some ideas.
Lola56
10-10-2005, 08:17 PM
Fastforward
How about contacting Howard Duncan at the SCCA National office in Topeka. This is the same person I mentioned in my previous post. Howard is now a VP in SCCA. He may have ideas and material that could help in this. Tell him Dave Welsh said hi.
Back in the late 80's we had a member in the Tampa arrea who had contacts in the radio industry. He worked at getting info about events on air. It was not uncommon that 40 percent of an event's entry were 1st time novices.
Point is this is a great idea.
In the mid 80's, at the University of Florida, someone got the local TV station out to an event. They made a 60 story for the Sunday news. I had a tape of the story until I loaned it to someone in Gainesville in order to have events back on the UF campus.
fastforward
10-11-2005, 12:23 AM
Fastforward
How about contacting Howard Duncan at the SCCA National office in Topeka. This is the same person I mentioned in my previous post. Howard is now a VP in SCCA. He may have ideas and material that could help in this. Tell him Dave Welsh said hi.
Back in the late 80's we had a member in the Tampa arrea who had contacts in the radio industry. He worked at getting info about events on air. It was not uncommon that 40 percent of an event's entry were 1st time novices.
Point is this is a great idea.
In the mid 80's, at the University of Florida, someone got the local TV station out to an event. They made a 60 story for the Sunday news. I had a tape of the story until I loaned it to someone in Gainesville in order to have events back on the UF campus.
I have quite a bit of Auto-X footage from just about every club and venue in central florida. Even Rally-Cross.
I could interview some folks on cam, and get some more footage of track set up and clean up, etc. With or without SCCA support I think something like this would be a valuable tool for any organization...it could be more about auto-x and be sort of generic if we wanted that way, so any club could use it. But, if the SCCA wanted to be a part of it and could provide some material that would be great too.
I also work at a local TV station as a production videographer. I could get autocross some exposure too. That might help drive new recruits.
Infact one show I work on, the producers have been hounding me about putting together a story on autox, I haven't done it yet, because I just haven't had the chance to get out to race lately.
Anything I can do to help, I'd love to.
If you have Dave's email info or something send it my way, maybe I can get something rolling.
Loren
10-11-2005, 07:05 AM
As far as SCCA goes, they already have a promo video available. At least one. They also have an "event site acquisition" packet with a bunch of info in it available for the asking, and last I heard they actually had a person at the national level in charge of assisting local people in such endeavors.
For the non-SCCA clubs... something like this video could be a big help, especially if it's carefully constructed to not include anything potentially offensive. (that ranges from people to cars, and actions to words... including tire-smoking pavement abuse)
Leonard
10-11-2005, 08:21 AM
For the non-SCCA clubs... something like this video could be a big help, especially if it's carefully constructed to not include anything potentially offensive. (that ranges from people to cars, and actions to words... including tire-smoking pavement abuse)
While it's probably a good idea for initially acquiring the site I think that's a bad idea in the long run.. The video needs to contain the full spectrum of what you could expect to see at an event. The last thing you want is for a site owner to come out to an event (perhaps the first at the site) to check in and see a spinout with a little tire smoke (or god forbid some jackass who decides he's doridori drifto master) and feel like the 'sales pitch' misrepresented the sport. I guarantee you'll loose the site and any chance of getting it back for a VERY long time.
Loren
10-11-2005, 11:14 AM
Well, I wouldn't try to misrepresent the sport. What I meant was to leave out things like high-powered cars lighting them up at the start line digging holes in the pavement, people doing gratuitous donuts to recover from a 180, that kind of thing. Yeah, we drive hard, spins and things happen... but there are lots of things that SHOULDN'T happen and shouldn't be included on a promo video. That's all I'm saying.
And, of course, how improper course events are handled (especially in the presence of site owners) by event organizers is likely to carry a little weight. For instance, red flagging those who try to drift the entire course or get recklessly out of control on course. Having event officials clearly go speak to those drivers immediately when they come off course. And, most importantly, not allowing such antics to be repeated.
It's one thing to see "a car" do something stupid. Quite another to see the same car do it repeatedly and/or several cars doing it.
Lola56
10-11-2005, 11:24 AM
The piece filmed by WCJB, Gainesville, in 1985 showed a car doing a 360. Being the old hard tires (gumball DOT tires were just becoming avilable), and 40 degree temp, not much tire smoke! I've got to get that tape back. Any one know Bernd Leisenfeld?
dwelsh56@hotmail.com
Dave
fastforward
10-16-2005, 05:57 PM
While it's probably a good idea for initially acquiring the site I think that's a bad idea in the long run.. The video needs to contain the full spectrum of what you could expect to see at an event. The last thing you want is for a site owner to come out to an event (perhaps the first at the site) to check in and see a spinout with a little tire smoke (or god forbid some jackass who decides he's doridori drifto master) and feel like the 'sales pitch' misrepresented the sport. I guarantee you'll loose the site and any chance of getting it back for a VERY long time.
That's why you use discretion when editing. You have to all of the good with some of the bad. However, the video would in large, profile all the positives of the event, yes there might have to be some tire smoke shown or cars taking out cones or whatever....afterall autox isn't drivers-ed.
I think its an idea that should receive some consideration. You have to take some risks if you want to make some gains. I think a well crafted video that showcases all the positives along with all of the realities of the sport could help to "sell" autocross to a potential site owner.
I'm not talking about some amateur production here....I'm talking the full professional sales pitch. But....Aa Loren mentioned earlier, if the SCCA has this packet with "sales video" available maybe we should implement it if we want to try to secure a local site.
Otherwise, if i can help, my services are available.
Ok, I finally got the pics up. Check out my gallery to view them. The satellite images are of the track off of Gandy, Derby Lane. All of the pictures entitled "Greyhound lot" are of the Tampa Greyhound track that is off of I-275. Though I would still like to find a place to go "practice" driving my car when it is wet out, I think I am content on doing autocrosses at the SPC campus. They seem to have a good thing going over there and it is already all set up.
vBulletin® v3.6.10, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content Relevant URLs by
vBSEO 3.2.0 RC5