New complex targets NASCAR, F1
Amajor new motorsports facility in Mobile, Alabama, has set its sights on landing a round of the NASCAR Nextel Cup and perhaps even a Formula One race.
The Alabama Motorsports Park has been announced by a consortium of investors which include Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge and Kerry Earnhardt, marking the siblings’ first professional collaboration.
The project – which is to include an asphalt speedway, a road course, a drag strip and a dirt track – will cost some $350 million to construct.
Gulf Coast Entertainment, L.L.C. has narrowed its site choices to a location in Mobile County in the area across from the University of Mobile and two potential sites in adjacent Baldwin County – one on the Foley Beach Express and the other in central Baldwin County.
"Our family business is racing and it's been our business for three generations," said Dale Earnhardt Jr "Kelley, Kerry and I want to continue the family business with hopes that the next generation of Earnhardts will want to be involved in the sport. This new venture with the Alabama Motorsports Park provides yet another avenue in which the Earnhardt family can participate.
“Growing up, the race track was our playground on the weekends,” continued Earnhardt Jr, “so all of us look forward to being involved on the ground level of this project and being a part of the design team.”
The site plan developed by HOK Sport of Kansas City includes parking, a significant recreational vehicle area, multiple music theatres and an arena and reserves land for commercial, residential and light industrial activities.
Growing up, the race track was our playground on the weekends so all of us look forward to being involved in this project
Dale Earnhardt Jr
In addition to HOK Sport, one of America's top designers of sports facilities, Gulf Coast Entertainment has worked with Turner Construction’s sports division to plan and price the development. All three of the sites being considered are in excess of 2,300 acres.
The schedule calls for the project to be completed in autumn 2009.
Dale Earnhardt Jr has provided input on the lighted, 75,000-seat, 7/10-mile oval. Features will include pedestrian/vehicle tunnels and banking and multiple grooves to promote close racing with extensive passing opportunities. Kerry Earnhardt has provided input on both the track and on a freshwater lake that investors believe will attract national fishing events.
The 3.5-mile road course will feature two distinct but connected segments to enhance testing on the track. The 1/4-mile drag strip and 3/8-mile dirt track will be designed to attract national events. Investors have not ruled out the possibility of developing a bid for a Formula One race but no discussions have taken place about running any specific events with sanctioning bodies.
