Racing season brings excitement, and bit of dread, before council
By RYAN BRINKS, TIMES-REPUBLICAN
POSTED: March 25, 2008
Article Photos
“That will bring back the sensation of racing and the smell of fuel,” Denny Grabenbauer, speedway marketing director, told the Marshalltown City Council at Monday’s meeting.
The local racing season officially begins April 4 with the venue’s annual Frostbuster race, weather permitting.
But to one city resident, it also marks a season of tolerated public disturbance.
At the end of the meeting, Mark Smith of 201 Thunderbird Drive sought an answer to who is in charge of the speedway and how a process of challenging the speedway’s permission to operate could be started.
“Can you think of another form of entertainment that infringes on so many people,” he asked, noting that calls to the police, council members, county supervisors and others over the past several years had all led nowhere. “... To me that’s not right.”
The answer to Smith’s authority question is the Central Iowa Fair Board, which owns the land and rents the facility.
Grabenbauer acknowledged complaints about noise but said that the speedway strives to finish by 10 p.m. each race night and averaged its conclusion at 9:42 p.m. last year. Safety issues most often pushed the action past 10 p.m.
A further complication for Smith was racing events beyond Friday nights.
The speedway is planning special races on Tuesday, June 10; Monday and Tuesday, June 30 and July 1; and Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13 and 14.
April 4’s opening night is anticipated to draw a record 140 race cars, highlighting the start of its 44th consecutive season, Grabenbauer added.
“We should be very, very lucky to have a promoter in Marshalltown who not only cares about the fans but about the community,” he said.
The speedway hosts family nights, cardboard box racing for children and a Faster Pastor event, he added.
“I respect where you’re coming from, but it’s entertainment to a lot of people and brings taxes to the city,” said Bob Schubert, council member.
Schubert argued that residents bought or built homes with the knowledge that the speedway’s activities have existed for decades.
Grabenbauer also outlined three fundraising projects for this year’s Central Iowa Fair — the acceptance of donated cell phones, the livestock banner auctions at the conclusion of the fair and the new buy-a-brick fundraiser for improvements at both the show pavilion and speedway.
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Contact Ryan Brinks at 641-753-6611 or rbrinks@timesrepublican.com
Member Comments
View Comments: | 1-6 | Post a comment
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CycloneMom
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03-26-08 3:01 PM
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Buffers would be a smart idea, although I wonder how much they really would help. As mentioned in the article, and from my personal recollection, the races did used to last much later into the night. In fact, I believe it was two seasons ago that they first finished much earlier than in previous years. And if I remember right, the reasoning was that they were aware of the noise issue and wanted to do something to alleviate the problem. According to the suggestion in the article, perhaps people who move next to an existing factory should be able to stop the trucks from running all night because it keeps them awake...
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10waman
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03-25-08 8:01 PM
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Sorry ya all, but I agree with Smith. I don't think that the fair board, board of supervisors or the city council give a hoot about the common man. There has never been a move to limit the noise level like, a tree buffer, noise buffer walls, mufflers...nothing!!!! In this atmosphere of going green and not polluting this race track is the very essense of wasteful use of the earths resources and contributes to global pollution with noise and CO2, not to mention the dust storm that is kicked up. All of this, so you can be 'entertained' and this guy who promotes the track doesn't live here. He has no connection to the community except to take the money and run. Who needs to wake up?????
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Johnny
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03-25-08 6:57 PM
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I used to live alot closer than that to the track and could hear the engines racing! Almost SUMMER again!!
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SPEEDY
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03-25-08 7:45 AM
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Gee whiz sounds like some one needs to get a life. Or maybe some good ear plugs and a baby bed. Grow up!
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FreeSpeech
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03-25-08 6:15 AM
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What a cry baby. I think Smith needs a life...
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CycloneMom
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03-25-08 1:19 AM
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It's like moving into the NE side--you go into it knowing that you just might get a whiff of Swift's once in a while. Or moving into a flood plain--there's a chance you could get wet. If the wind is just right, you can hear the race cars on the NW side of town, and they're done much earlier now than they were way back when my bedtime was well before ten...
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