The subject of Yuma Speedway, and the status of the circle track keeps coming up.

I received an e-mail from a friend who asked, “Have you heard about the grand re-opening of Yuma Speedway?”

Uh, no, I haven’t.

And after asking around, and chasing down what seems like the one-millionth rumor about the circle track’s reopening, we’re right back where we started — nowhere.

That being said, I can’t hold back any longer and I’ve decided to cast caution to the wind and vent a little on this subject — the current state of Yuma Speedway, as far as the circle track is concerned.

It’s been a while now since the Cocopah Tribe purchased the facility, which closed following the 1999 season. I steadfastly believe is still the best dirt track in this corner of the country, and although the tribe initially acted as though it was interested in getting something going again, besides sand drags, the track is still sitting there, as we speak, idle.

Or as former owner and Dome Valley farmer Ronnie Moore so eloquently put it, it’s just growing weeds.

What bothers me, is why did the tribe feign interest in getting the facility up and going again? Why bother to listen to some local enthusiasts, who, along with Yuma Chamber of Commerce boss Ken Rosevear, put together what appeared to be a viable plan on paper, if the tribe never intended to do anything?

Why? Why? Why?

Some time ago I attended what I believe might have been the last meeting the tribe had with the local dirt track racing fraternity. At that meeting representing the tribe were tribal official Paul Soto along with Rick McKinney and Liz Pratt. Representing the racers were David White and Leonard Jones.

There was a lot of talk, there were a lot of questions and a lot of answers, along with a lot of head nodding and so forth, and the overall feeling — again — was the tribe was genuinely interested in getting racing on the circle track going — again.

Needless to say, David White and Leonard Jones were almost giddy with excitement afterward. And while I didn’t want to burst their bubble, I thought it was necessary to point out that in reality nobody on the other side of the table that day gave them a definite date, or a starting time, or even an approximate time frame as to when they could expect to see some activity at the track, in the form of getting it back in shape.

And since then, the tribe has purchased a golf course and opened its new hotel and meeting center.

And, sadly, still nothing has happened in regard to the circle track. In fact, the tribal parties involved have been almost unreachable, and when they do talk to the racers, they have no comment about the track.

Then, along comes a fellow from Somerton, who says he and his organization are taking over the sand drag races at the track. And he adds the tribe has also asked him about taking over the circle track, and getting it up and running.

And then where was, yup, another meeting. This meeting, which also included David White and Leonard Jones, along with fellow racer Rick Miller, was to determine if there was a genuine local interest in the dirt track, to which Alfonso “Chachy” Zavala III, representing National Sand Drag Association, said he had to come away with a positive feeling. And he said he did. He even went as far as to say that he’d like to get a longer lease agreement from the tribe if he was going to invest time and money in the circle track too.

When he left the meeting that day, he said he was going to approach the tribe about an extended lease and get back in touch everyone about the circle track. Then, the days passed, and weeks, and months, and now … nothing … again.

In the meantime, one of the local television stations got wind of the possible development with the circle track, and took it upon itself to pursue the story, which, apparently did not sit well with the tribe, which has told outside parties, including Ken Rosevear, that it doesn’t want any publicity regarding the circle track portion of the facility until it gives the go-ahead.

And wham, any more word about re-development of the circle track has come to a screeching halt.

Which begs the questions, what happened to Chachy Zavala and the tribe asking him to pursue re-development of the circle track? What ever came of the meetings between the tribe and Ken Rosevear and David White and Leonard Jones? And is there anyone at the Cocopah Tribe who can step up, go on the record, and tell the Yuma racing community just what the heck is going on?

This entry was posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Up To Speed. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.