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| Hialeah 'Powers' Back To Life! |  A months ago many if not most people were sure Hialeah Speedway with its 46 year history was close to seeing it's last race. The management had essentially thrown in the towel, the tax man wanted $91,000 by the 15th of March, and that was just for starters. We asked the question:Is it the end or the beginning of a new era? There was no money, and little hope of it being found. The Miami Herald wrote what could be described as a "requiem mass" for the Speedway with a NASCAR legend playing the lead. For the most part the rest of the state's racing community watched, if at all, with only a mild curiosity.
And it still may not survive for the long haul but this coming weekend (Saturday April 15th) will be a special day for race fans in South Florida as Hialeah Speedway will re-open it's gates to fans and drivers. Thanks to the involvement of a hundred or so Hialeah fans and drivers the smell of spent fuel and the sound of screeching tires will again resonate from the grand old speedway.
Mike Powers, a local Cyclone Division racer, refused to give up racing at his favorite track when the word went out that the track had finally come to the end of it's road. He, along with the help of attorney Kevin Lunsford, and a handful of others brought together 80 some speedway regulars and 34,000 dollars to try and pay the $91,000 due by March 15th for back taxes. In early March Powers told me "What I know about Hialeah Speedway is there is quite a bit of history due to the fact they have been around so long, longer than most speedways in the state. I know of other speedways in the state that have bigger tax bills than us, yet they pay their taxes and turn a profit so don't tell me it can't be done. Yes the lease is up in 2003 but leases can be rewritten. If we stop pointing fingers at who did what wrong we could survive on our own. If you want to believe we are dead already go ahead, but rather than that, why don't we find a way to save the place we have had so many great Saturday nights and let the history live on. I plan to do everything I can to keep my Saturday nights going at Hialeah Speedway."
And he did just that.
South Florida Race Alliance Formed
Fighting against the negative attitudes that exist around a failing business was the toughest thing in keeping the speedway open, "every door we had gone and knocked on was slammed in our face, there's a lot of burnt bridges out there." Powers added, "we found a way to work through it."
Working thorugh it meant forming a new organization called the South Florida Racing Alliance, and also meant the end of an era. The Greater Miami Racing Association which started the speedway in 1954 and has operated it since that time is no more.
The newly formed South Florida Racing Alliance will focus on building it's local classes up, and drivers are not expecting to race for a purse for at least several weeks. Sticking the with local classes, no rule changes in sight, concentrating on their local show, and getting a massive volunteer effort to help clean up and repair the physical facilities is the first priority. Powers put it this way "we would love to bring back some of the other things such as the Florida Pros, sprint cars and things of that nature, but right now our operating capital doesn't allow that".
Mike Powers is the acting President of the SFRA and will oversee the general operations at the track. Powers drives the number five in the Cyclone Division and was the division representative. Now he finds himself running the speedway, with a lot of help of course. Approximately 200 people attended a special meeting organized recently to answer questions regarding the future of the speedway, and to separate rumors from facts surrounding the speedway's situation. The lease was read to them, and in the end they got behind the effort.
This past weekend the clean up and refurbishing of the facility got underway. Fans and drivers will be helping the new management group prepare for the re-opening throughout the week. A couple of roofing firms are donating time and materials and another company is supplying wood to fix the bleachers. Mike Powers shrugs off his effort and instead credits the fans and drivers who supported and got involved in the effort to save the speedway, "Without these people's money in the escrow this thing would have never come to life." The fans who contributed to the escrow account meant for taxes have signed over the monies to the SFRA.
Another of the important elements in getting the property owner to deal with the SFRA and negotiate the new speedway lease is the issue of taxes. The SFRA agreed to pay the property taxes weekly instead of quarterly and signed a new lease through December 31, 2002, with a clause for re-negotiating the extension of the lease.
Powers said the alliance would like to bring back the touring divisions such as the T.B.A.R.A. Sprints and Florida Pro Late Models but that would have to wait. He would also like to see the Legends Dwarfs, Open Wheels and Mini Cup cars return to Hialeah Speedway, but first would like to get the track stabilized and perhaps get their Pure Stock and Late Models running first.
The SFRA has lowered ticket prices from $10 to $8 and is allowing kids 12 and under in free with a paying adult. Seniors will only pay $7 for grandstand admittance. The speedway will open for test and tune Friday with racing returning at 7 PM Saturday evening.
KARNAC.com will be there to cover the racing and meet the people who, against nearly impossible odds, kept hope and faith alive and managed to keep the sun from setting on the state's oldest speedway.
Just goes to show you what can happen when a small group of people get their head and hearts together on a problem.
UPDATE
[Just as we were preparing to publish this story I spoke with Mike Powers from Hialeah Speedway. He said they got a lot done today and 100 people helped clean up and do repairs to the speedway. They were still at the speedway at 8 PM]
-Jack Smith
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