National Off Road Racing video...

[spalind]

just from the NORRA race I attended two weekends ago down in Windsor, CT...was a good time with some great trucks...should definatly attend an event if you get the chance...video is pretty big--like 30+ mgs so you may want to right click and save...

http://homepage.mac.com/dwspalinger/.Movies/NORRA.mov

[rblank]

Holy Carp! That was effin AWESOME! I'm going there next!

[HookSetSteve]

I heard that they just closed that place this week
Anyone know if it's true?

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According to their website it is. Oh man that sucks.

http://www.mototownusa.com/mototown/default.aspx

[xjmark]

I heard that from a few people recently, but figured it was just that.... a rumor.

It would have been nice to have another steady 4x4 race series in the area.
A good portion of the racers in that video are good friends of mine, and all have had nothing but great things to say about that facility.

[xjmark]

If you're just finding out that this type of racing exists in the Northeast, check out CC4W and NORRA for more information on exciting race action

[SidewaysTim]

From the Courant this morning

WINDSOR - - Just short of the second anniversary of its opening in June of
2006, Mototown USA closed abruptly this week for the spring and summer, and
possibly for good.

Signs on the doors of the 200,000-square-foot indoor motocross venue
apologized to customers for the inconvenience and directed them to a number
to call to retrieve dirt bikes held in storage.

"Right place, wrong time," co-owner Tommy DeFranzo said of his
multimillion-dollar Day Hill Road brainchild on Thursday.

DeFranzo, a local resident and motocross enthusiast who began his quest to
turn Windsor into the indoor motorcycle racing capital of the Northeast in
2001, said the reason for shutting down operations was simple.

"It's the economy. We can't survive doing what we've been doing for the
summer," he said.

DeFranzo said the downturn in the economy, coupled with a sharp increase in
fuel and energy costs - his monthly electric bill is $12,000 - made
remaining open too risky a proposition.

"It's cheaper for us to remain closed. We don't want to lose the building,"
DeFranzo said, adding that riders with Mototown memberships are also feeling
the pinch at the gas pump and staying away from the track.

He said that all of the facility's bills are paid and up to date.

"Between the fuel costs and everything else, people are putting their bikes
away. Everyone is battening down the hatches," he said.

DeFranzo said he hoped to be able to market the building for other uses
during the summer and make another run at profitability when the weather
turns colder and the presidential election is decided.

"We're going to see what the new president brings," a hopeful DeFranzo said.

He said he was freezing about 60 existing full memberships. If the facility
does not reopen, those members would receive prorated refunds.

DeFranzo's partner, Dan Ferraina, who has been working in real estate for 45
years, said the prospects for reopening in October, if ever, are not good.

"The economics of the real world are different," he said. "I'm not
optimistic."

[Scott Hatch]

This does bring up an interesting point....how will the raising fuel costs effect our volunteer support?

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[spalind]

Wow...didn't see that happening...he was REAL positive two weekends ago when I was there...heck, he had said that Unique Motorsports (the customizing shop with its show on Speed) were going to announce a move to his facility...I bet that fell through and with it the associated money and thus, this closure...

[Scott Hatch]

Sad he was probably counting on that for his future

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I think a $12,000 a month electric bill didn't help either. That's $480K a year, ludicris. He should look into solar panels, I sure he's got more than enough roof area.

[spalind]

I think a $12,000 a month electric bill didn't help either. That's $480K a year, ludicris. He should look into solar panels, I sure he's got more than enough roof area.

I think thats just a PC thing for him to say for the papers...you don't invest that much money into that large of a project worrying about your electric bill....

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I've never been to the track, so I can't really comment on the set-up. But being an indoor venue with lighting, probably ventilation, general power, etc, I wouldn;t be surprised if it actually was that much. Not that the guy didn;t think it all out, I'm just saying that decreasing his large overhead items could help keep him open longer.