General
Chicago area racetrack update 96-12-09
The DuPage Airport Authority Board of Commissioners met on Monday, 9-Dec, to review proposals for a racetrack on its property in west suburban Chicago near the DuPage-Kane County line. Because of new information received, the Board of ...
Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The DuPage Airport Authority Board of Commissioners met on Monday, 9-Dec, to review proposals for a racetrack on its property in west suburban Chicago near the DuPage-Kane County line. Because of new information received, the Board of Commissioners postponed a decision until they've had a chance to review the material.
Each of the three groups responding to the Request for Qualifications -- Tag Sport Ltd., The Motorsports Alliance, and DuPage Speedway and Entertainment Complex -- were given the opportunity to speak to the commissioners for about 10 minutes.
Tag Sport proposes building a road course that they state would support Formula 1 racing, Indy-car racing, and NASCAR racing. They emphasized their integrated park/commercial/race facility and that it would be friendly to both the community and the environment. William R. Kautz, the principal in this group, stated that the facility could be used 365 days of the year rather than one or two weekends of the year. Tag Sport is proposing four events at the facility -- a Formula 1 motorcycle race, a vintage motorcycle race, a Global GT race, and Formula 1 grand prix race. When questioned, Mr. Kautz stated that discussions were taking place with the grand prix sanctioning body. He also stated that within the next 30 days his group would have their financial backing lined up.
The Motorsports Alliance, a consortium of International Speedway Corporation, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Menard, Inc. proposes a 1.5 mile oval track with an initial seating capacity of 80,000 and 20-30 corporate suites. The Alliance emphasized their financial strength and their ability to build and operate motor- sports racing facilities. They also pointed out that with much interest being expressed for a racetrack in the Chicago area, there is an urgency to move forward. The Alliance felt that the due diligence period could be reduced from 12 to 18 months down to 8 to 12 months and if everything fell into place favorably, it would be possible to have a race in 1998. They were prepared to make a financial commitment at the meeting if they were selected to proceed.
The DuPage Speedway and Entertainment Complex, which includes the FRG Group, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, and Gesner Sports Ventures, proposes to build a 1.5 mile oval with an infield road course. They have found JAM Productions as an additional partner in their venture and emphasized the amphitheater part of their plan. Additionally, they stated they had a letter from Andrew Craig of Championship Auto Racing Teams stating that the facility would be awarded a CART-sanctioned race. Chip Ganassi stated that he was committed to moving his racing operation to the DuPage facility should his group be chosen to proceed.
Both Tag Sport and the DuPage Speedway and Entertainment Complex provided additional information at the meeting. In addition, the Airport Authority operating and engineering groups had developed information which the commissioners had not yet had time to review. None of commissioners were inclined to select a group to move forward with. They stated that they needed more time to review the additional information they've received. They are looking to meet again prior to year end. In addition, they asked each of the groups submitting proposals to speak to noise and traffic abatement.
The Airport Authority initially stated that they were asking potential development groups to submit their qualifications -- both financial and operational -- to build and operate a racetrack. It appears that the commissioners are drifting from that original approach and are delving more into the facility design.
-- Phil _____________________________________________________________ Philip Gravel Lisle, Illinois pgravel@mcs.net
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article ATCC: Calder report
Next article Standings after Gold Coast
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Chip Ganassi
IndyCar retains Independent Officiating Board leadership and managing director Scot Elkins for 2027
IndyCar
IndyCar
IndyCar retains Independent Officiating Board leadership and managing director Scot Elkins for 2027
Chip Ganassi Racing signs Christian Lundgaard for 2027 in multi-year IndyCar deal
IndyCar
IndyCar
Chip Ganassi Racing signs Christian Lundgaard for 2027 in multi-year IndyCar deal
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi awarded Baby Borgs in emotional celebration
IndyCar
IndyCar
Phoenix Raceway
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi awarded Baby Borgs in emotional celebration
More from
Chip Ganassi Racing
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
IndyCar 5 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
IndyCar
IndyCar 10 h
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
Indy NXT
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
25 min
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
4 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 5 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
6 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 Can-Am drivers
General
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 Can-Am drivers
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe