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It might be a good idea for anyone operating a business to keep in mind that old adage, "The only constant in life is change." It seems especially true if that business happens to be a drag strip. Even if it's one that has been in continuous operation for 35 years! Which brings me to the subject of the latest rant from Lenny. Kansas City International Raceway, the place where I got my start on the working side of drag racing, is in the midst of a legal battle, the objective of which is to force its closure. According to the track's opponents, the track is in constant violation of the established curfew (10 PM, if memory serves), has refused to consider any change in operating hours or nights of operation, and has of late staged an increased number of special (louder) shows, all to the never ending consternation of the trackıs many neighbors. It goes almost without saying that most, if not all of the complainants took up residence long after KCIR was built and paying taxes as a legitimate business. That fact never seems to matter to those who would like to see the track go away.
What opened the door for the latest challenge was the track's construction of a storage shed on the property, allegedly without applying for a building permit. The opposition lawyers felt this put KCIR in ³technical² violation of its special use permit and began legal proceedings. Shut 'em down, no compromise, no matter who was there first, no mind paid to who might get hurt. For their part, the track's operators state they have offered to eliminate one night of racing, one that generates a large number of paying racers and a fair amount of sponsor participation. And they strongly deny the curfew violation allegations, pointing out they employ a number of off-duty Kansas City policeman on their security force. As peace officers, they have a working knowledge of the special use permit in force at the track and are obliged to enforce it, no matter who signs their paycheck. As to the expansion of and kind of racing shows put on at KCIR, that much is true, if you discount the period of operation dating from 1967 through 1990, give or take a few years. KCIR used to be a pretty busy place. But that is probably news to the new arrival homeowners to the area surrounding the track. Which brings us to the crux of the matter, in my opinion. I will never understand, or have much patience with, those who would move into a given situation, find the existing conditions not to their liking, and respond by insisting that those who were there first move out! To the credit of the local news media, there were several local news anchors who openly questioned how anyone could not know of the track's existence before moving in. Yet that is just what several of the opposition witnesses claimed in a meeting at City Hall. It doesn't take a mental giant to understand the principal of "due diligence," the process of going to the trouble of finding out, in advance, just what one is getting oneself into. If you don't like noise, maybe you should make sure there isn't a race track in the vicinity. And failing to exercise due diligence, there's another principal that comes into play. Have you heard of "caveat emptor?² That's "Let the buyer beware" in my language. But those principals don't seem to matter to those who would shut down KCIR. So maybe there is something deeper going on here. Maybe those who oppose have their eyes on a land bargain. The foes of KCIR include a couple of the area's best- known names, active in big business like you and I can only dream of being. Maybe it isn't about noise, or storage sheds, of good/bad neighbors, or any of the stated reasons. Maybe it's just the rich seeking to get richer, by whatever means they can manage. After a long and contentious meeting at City Hall, the Kansas City government postponed a decision on the matter until early December. Local racer presence at the meeting was strong and at least as well spoken as those on the other side of the issue. Even better, many who live close to the track came and spoke in favor of the track and its activities. Some from the camp of public education gave credit to the High School drag racing events as serving a need within the community. And the meeting received across the board coverage from every local TV news staff, many of which weighed in on KCIR's side. Anyone who feels they can favorably impact the authority's opinion
on the matter is invited to attempt to do so. Anyone with information
on who to contact can inform the public right here, through Drag Racing
Online. Drag strips are sort of hard to come by, especially tracks with
the kind of history KCIR has. If you can help them out, the sport and
the KC area racers would be greatly appreciative. And so would I!
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