Motor Sports Weekly News

By: Drew Hierwarter

Let me see a show of hands, how many of you remember the failed attempt by International Speedway Corp (ISC) to build a race track in the New York Metro area?

ISC, which is a company that is owned by NASCAR, purchased a large tract of land on Staten Island with the idea of building an 82,500 seat race track there and bringing the excitement of NASCAR racing to the Big Apple.

The problem was the people of New York weren’t all that excited and the double whammy of political opposition and a skeptical public finally killed the deal. Ever since then NASCAR has been trying to unload the property.

On December 6^th of this year it was reported that NASCAR, after three missed closing dates, was still trying to sell the 676 acre site to KB Marine for $80 million which is almost $30 million less than they paid for it in 2004!

Now, the New York Daily News is reporting that taxi tycoon and president of Medallion Financial Corporation, Andrew Murstein has plans to build a NASCAR track in the city. The idea he has is for his track to co-exist with the Aqueduct horse racing track in Queens, similar to Dover Downs in Delaware, or he wants to build a track at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

If the name Murstein sounds familiar or you recognize the name of his company, Medallion Financial, it’s because right at the end of the 2010 race season he purchased a majority interest in Richard Petty Motorsports, saving it from closing its doors!

Medallion Financial is the family owned taxi business that was started by Murstein’s grandfather in 1937 and has grown into the largest taxi medallion and taxi lending business in the country.

Now I know that Mr. Murstein didn’t get where he is, and didn’t build his company up to where it is by being stupid. But NASCAR wasn’t the first group that ever tried and failed to build an auto racing facility in New York. And given the current state of the economy and NASCAR’s decreasing television ratings and reduced spectator attendance throughout the circuit, not to mention the recent closing of two major race facilities (Gateway in St. Louis and Memphis Motorsports Park), one has to wonder what Mr. Murstein is thinking.

Has his recent purchase of Richard Petty’s race team gotten him all excited about the sport, like a fan that has just seen his first race?  And is that excitement clouding his judgment? Or, has he simply got too much money and is looking for an ideal way to burn some of it off?

Whatever the reason, given the history of race track deals in New York City, and the fact that for 20 years or more NASCAR held its award banquet there and nobody in the city cared, it seems like Mr. Murstein’s idea of racing in the Big Apple hasn’t got much chance of succeeding.

But hey, you never know until you try. Stranger things have happened in New York. Heck even the Mets won the World Series, not once but twice!