NASCAR / IRL Coming to Niagara!?

It turns out that the proposed speedway complex for Fort Erie has a star name attached to it... Jeff Gordon. I love NASCAR but to be honest I can't stand the guy I'm a Matt Kenseth fan all the way but the Gordon names carries a lot of clout and means that this proposal is serious.

So far we know that it is a $200-million+, 65,000-seat international motor speedway on 600 acres of land. The team is spearheaded by multi-NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, flanked by Paxton Waters Architecture, Derek Daly Design, and Philips Engineering, and supported by a host of local and international strategic partners. The main investor is Bayt Al Mal Investment Co which is from the United Arab Emirates. The speedway complex will be along the QEW, between Gilmore Road and Bowen Road in Fort Erie. Bayt Al Mal has done numerous environmental, planning and engineering studies to support its application and has invested several million dollars. The proposal is working its way through the Town of Fort Erie's planning department.

"Mohammad described as the Canadian Motor Speedway, will benefit from its unique location -just six kilometres from the Canadian/ U. S. border and relatively easy access from many urban centers. Being only 10 minutes from world-famous Niagara Falls, Mohammad said the speedway would become North America's motorsport entertainment destination." "He said the facility is set to open for racing in the summer of 2011 and has already sparked the interest of major race-sanctioning organizations that are keen to capitalize on the Canadian and eastern U. S. fan base. The property will be developed in a way that would allow for additional uses and venues."

FANTASTIC RIGHT!? Well if you are a racing fan and live in the Niagara area or close to Niagara it gets even better!!! This is not the only proposed track there is not even just a second track but THREE TRACKS in total proposed all very serious proposals!

The next track which we only learned of just last week is an IRL motor speedway proposed for Niagara Falls again along the QEW on a 93- hectare parcel of land on Sodom Road. A group of "Ontario investors" want to build a 5.6- kilometre road course on land bounded by Bossert Road, Sodom Road and the QEW that could be available for IRL racing. IRL stands for Indy Racing League, an American-based open-wheel racing series, which includes the popular Indianapolis 500.

Then we have the 3rd proposal which is also set to be within the Fort Erie boundaries but little is known about it as the investment group & city hall want to remain quiet about it for now. SOURCE

I have always said Niagara is very supportive of racing with our three current tracks Humberstone Speedway (dirt racing), Merrittville Speedway (dirt racing), the Welland Motorcycle Raceway plus in Cayuga Ontario which is about 30mins from Niagara Falls we have an official CASCAR speedway (paved racing). Plus just over the US/Canada border about 15-20mins from Niagara Falls is Ransomville Speedway (dirt racing)... we love our racing here! Niagara is centered between 60% of the US/Canada population and would make for a perfect world class racing destination. We're already a world class golfing destination, wine destination & tourist destination so why not!?