Final lap for Speedway bikes?

Andrew Glazer

FAIRGROUNDS -- Motorcycle races, held here almost every week since 1969,

may come to a screeching halt this fall.

Officials from International Speedway, Inc. -- the San Clemente-based

company that brings the roars and rubber to Costa Mesa 40 Saturdays each

year -- said the Orange County Fair and Exposition Center is charging too

much for parking, restroom attendants and security.

Race promoter Brad Oxley, son of International Speedway founders Harry

and Marilynn Oxley, also said the arena needs new bleachers, lights and

refurbished restrooms. And he’s willing to chip in, he said, if

fairgrounds officials agree to sign a three-year contract.

Otherwise, the final race will be the U.S. National Speedway

Championships on Oct. 14.

“It would be suicidal to spend all that money and be out in October,” he

said.

But Becky Bailey-Findley, general manager of the fairgrounds, said the

fair board is not ready to make any long-term agreements before

consultants complete a redesign of the grounds. Bailey-Findley said she

expects the plan to be finished in two years.

“We don’t want to lock us into anything that would prevent the master

plan from going forward,” Bailey-Findley said.

The race track and arena, the last remaining venue of its kind in Orange

County, has consistently drawn about 3,000 spectators to each of its

events. Last year, races generated $45,000 in revenue for the

fairgrounds, which collects 10% of the ticket sales. The fairgrounds also

collects all profits generated from concessions sales at the races.

Historically, fair officials have subsidized the cost of staffing the

events, charging International Speedway $250 a night for security,

parking attendants and cleanup crews while the actual cost was nearly 10

times that amount.

But fairgrounds officials, beginning in 1997, have scaled back on the

subsidies, raising weekly fees to about $1,600, Bailey-Findley said.

“That’s what puts us out of business,” Oxley said. He added that the high

staffing costs, in addition to the much-needed building upgrades, could

scare away any other potential long-term tenants of the arena.

“They’re already pricing the one-time events out of the venue,” he said.

“Now they’re even scaring away a time-honored tradition.”

However, tradition may not be enough to keep the Speedway bikes running

at the fairgrounds.

“It’s part of our tradition and history,” said Steven Beazley, deputy

general manager of the fairgrounds. “I used to go there myself. But it’s

time to sit down and approach this from a good business standpoint.”

Scott Rousseau, a former Speedway racer who is now editor of a weekly

motorcycle newspaper, said the races would be sorely missed.

“People want to see motorcycles barely in control,” he said. “It’s a

sport where they can look right down and see the gladiators. And it

doesn’t require an attention span. The race is over in 40 seconds.”