If he builds it, will they come?

As I entered the new track called Shangri-la II I could only wonder, if he builds it will they come?

Opening weekend and no more than 12 cars per class, odd for such a nice facility until you realize that no one there or anywhere near there had ever raced on cement!

Add in that opening day was the middle of every racers season at other tracks and you can understand the short fields.That plus word of mouth had circulated that the track would never be ready in time.

Guess what, it was done enough to schedule a FULL weekend of racing.

http://jaws17.zenfolio.com/p158924764

Track owner George Swansborough will have to add more seating, lights, a full PA stsyem, finish some paving and the fence, more permanent bath rooms and oh yes garbage cans and you will have a first rate facility. Word on the street is there will be foam blocks in place shortly, a welcome saftey addition to keep the drivers safe.

I for one will be back as soon as I can, 4+ hours drive from home will limit visits but for an ROC or WMT race I think I would be there in a heartbeat and I would not be alone.

A New Race Track Opens July 4th Weekend.

Wow, just think about that! In these poor economic times a new track is opening in upstate NY, Shangri-la II. And not just "any" track a progressive banked 1/2 mile cement oval! It remins me of Bristol. with about 150,000 less seats!

Track owner George Swansbrough has spent a lot of money to complete the facility to get ready for opening weekend. While everything may not be complete it looks like they will run the first show on 4th of July weekend.

All races at the track will be under the ASA banner.

The neat thing about this track is it will feature full blown asphalt modified race cars! This is a class that has stuggled to attract good fields at every track that runs them weekly except maybe Bowman Gray in NC. So Shangri-la II will have its work cut out for them on a weely basis, especially when there is a ROC or Whelen race running that night.

An intersting feature of the facility is that there is also a drag strip on the grounds, Skyline drags right next door and fans will have the opportunity to go back and forth between the 2 tracks watching both drag cars and stock cars in one night for one admission price!

We wish track ownership the best of luck getting this facility up and running and many great nights with filled stands and pits plus no rain!!!

Shangri-la II Speedway is located off of Rt. 17 west of Binghampton NY , for more information check the tracks web page http://www.shangrila-2.com/index.shtml

See you at the races.