Nelson Ledges

[greg1647545532]

As of May 17th, all activities at Nelson Ledges have been suspended. I found this from Reed Kryder:

_____________

Everyone,

 

I am trying to get this out before the rumor mill goes crazy. The following is my understanding on what transpired. And what may happen.

 

As most of you know the track surface has been in need of repairs. This past winter was brutal. During the May 3-4 Motorcycle weekend there were some damaged bikes due to loosened pieces of pavement. This MC group has been running monthly events at the track for many years. The head of the club was not satisfied with how Kerrie and Bryan addressed his concerns. (It seems there had also been some disagreements in the past).

 

On May 5 Todd Karom (MC guy) contacted Marv Drucker (track owner) and basically told him his club could not continue to run at the track unless some surface repairs were done. Since he felt he had gotten nowhere with current track management he also told Marv either they go or his club is gone. Marv apparently asked him if he had any ideas on who could take over. He said no. Marv asked Todd if he wanted the job and he accepted it (I am not sure if he really wants it, but he has been active at the track since that 80's and doesn't want to see it closed).

 

On May 6 Kerrie informed me of the change in management. She was not happy and I was in shock.

 

I waited until May 9 to see if anything might change. It didn't. I called Todd (now the manager) and discussed the situation. He knows motorcycles but not cars. He asked Sandi and I for help on the car events.

 

Things are chaotic but it currently looks as if 2014 will proceed as planned. Those of you looking at the website may have noticed the dropping of Fundays. They should be back on the schedule about the time I send this.

 

Regarding the track surface, Todd has a goal of making something (extent?) happen before his June motorcycle weekend.

 

I am trying to organize a meeting (I have Todd's approval) on either May 24 or 25 (Fundays) to discuss 2014 status as well as future years. Let me know if you want details once I have them. My idea is for an open meeting for anyone interested. I do not want it to be a "bitching" session, so don't attend if all you want to do is complain about what is now past history. Otherwise, I welcome ideas.

 

The biggest reason I am sending this is a request to all of you to answer any rumors in a responsible manner if you care about the future of our racetrack. Give 'change' a chance and don't ruin it with negative speculation. There are currently a lot of unknowns, but there may be a silver lining to this cloud.

 

I expect this email (and a couple others) to result in a deluge of emails and calls. I am leaving the country so don't expect any immediate replies. I have an all day meeting in Cleveland on Tuesday and will be in Canada from early Wednesday until very late Sunday.

 

Reed Kryder

 

ps: For many years people have wished someone would purchase the track. From what I hear, Marv may be in a selling mood. Rumor has it he has lowered his asking price. It may still be high, but who knows.

 

____________

 

I'm bummed. I had a small crew ready to do both FunDays this weekend. That now appears to be off the table. Anyone have any inside info on what the way-ahead is?

[ol doc gully]

Hi Greg, I am also bummed, but very very glad to read some facts about the state of affairs and honestly it sounds like mostly good news relative to the rumor mill.

 

I know autointerests is making an effort to take over the track, but i have no idea of their affiliations: http://autointerests.com/content/save-nelson-ledges-petition

 

I already signed their petition just because im at the viewpoint of i dont care who takes it as long as someone does and it stays alive and hopefully gets some fixin.

 

I have some friends that are more close with Marv that I'm hoping to hear something from, i will let you know as i do.

[Mallard]

Sad to see but hopefully they get everything straightened out. Not sure if everyone knows this, but all SRT's do a 24 hour endurance test at Nelson before released for production. It would be sad to see it closed for good.

[OrangeDot3083]

I've been on Nelson Ledges once, if that track gets a complete repave it will be DEADLY fast!

 

I’ve also had a long conversation or two with Jason at Auto Interests and he is super passionate about this track. I would love for him and his group to take it over and see what they could do.

[reldusj]

This sucks, I was planning on going to a few fundays this year. I signed the petition, it's a great track, and needs to be saved.

[Tinman]

Copied and pasted from an email circulating around,

 

 

First, I want to correct something I reported in an earlier update. The new manager, Todd Karom, is still in that position. But it is tentative. This should be no reflection on his capabilities, simply a statement of fact since not all the decisions have been made at this time.

 

Todd's contact info is: 216-224-6901

info@motoseries.com

 

Second, future updates will be found at http://www.kryderacing.com and http://www.mvscca.org. Requests have made for an incredibly large mailing list. Please spread this message since I am not even going to attempt to include everyone. Please remember that I am trying to stick to the facts and not start rumors. Adding your own interpretations to these reports should be avoided. I am still trying to find out who reported the track's closing was due to a motorcycle rider being killed - it was totally false.

 

Yesterday (Saturday, May 24), Sandi and I went to the track. We needed to pick up some gas for a client and we had been informed a few of the people involved in what was happening might be meeting at the track. We didn't know what time they were meeting so we simply hung around visiting some friends. Early in the afternoon property owner Marv Drucker and his son (Rick) arrived. Discussions included the two of

them, Sandi and I, Scott Lane, and a couple of other individuals.

 

Rick, Scott, and I inspected the track. There was one (maybe a second) area which would need more than a simple patch. There were other areas where patches would be sufficient. This was the minimum work deemed necessary in order to hold competitive events on the track.

 

Most of the rest of the meeting could be split into two general categories: short- and long-term needs.

The short-term focus was on what needs to be done to get the track operating ASAP and minimize disruption of 2014 events currently scheduled. Long-term discussions focused on a total repaving and how best to accomplish it. Selling the track also was mentioned as a possibility.

 

One major challenge to accomplishing the short term goals is spending a sizable amount on the one (or two) pavement repair areas, only to have it all torn up when a total repaving was done. Finding funds is only one part of finding a solution. Spending those funds wisely is something requiring planning. While no one wants to give up anything which is already scheduled, no one wants to simply put a band-aid on the problem in order to hold near-future events and possibly jeopardize long-term survival.

 

These are not easy problems to solve. What was solved Saturday was a better understanding of the questions which need answering. For example: how long would it take for the short-term repairs to be made? Without firm answers to these questions, making a decision on how to proceed is impossible. Several of us are trying to answer these questions and we plan on sharing what we find in the next couple of days. I will post an update at that time.

 

I will be providing additional contact information to the groups with events scheduled in June.

 

Enjoy Memorial Day,

Reed Kryder

[AndonD454]

This might explain why they did not respond to two emails requesting FunDay registration for the session that May or may not have happened a couple weekend ago. Regardless, I would have preferred a response to seeing this info now on a forum. Regardless, I will not be giving business to NL under current ownership. I shouldn't have to try that hard to give them my money. It's a shame cause their prices are very reasonable.. But I have heard a couple complaints about the surface

[ol doc gully]

anybody heard any updates?

[greg1647545532]

It's still being run by the motoseries guys. I forget where I read it, but they had a disaster of a race weekend a while back; water shortages and sanitation issues, incredibly long grass that became a safety issue (cars went off and disappeared, apparently). They've since spent money improving the water system and have made some track improvements. They're back to running FunDays, my friend went up for one and didn't have any complaints.

 

The old website is dead, here's the new website:

http://nelsonledgesracecomplex.com/

 

It looks like they're doing a FunDay this weekend.

[ol doc gully]

ah fantastic! glad i asked. car wont quite be ready this weekend but i hope they keep fundays through the year, i will definitely be on the look out and in attendance shortly.

[Miller]

It's still being run by the motoseries guys. I forget where I read it, but they had a disaster of a race weekend a while back; water shortages and sanitation issues, incredibly long grass that became a safety issue (cars went off and disappeared, apparently). They've since spent money improving the water system and have made some track improvements. They're back to running FunDays, my friend went up for one and didn't have any complaints.

 

The old website is dead, here's the new website:

http://nelsonledgesracecomplex.com/

 

It looks like they're doing a FunDay this weekend.

 

Did he mention if it had been resurfaced? I loved taking my old car out to Nelson, for $100 it can't be beat. I think Max would fall apart from the beating that place gives out.

[greg1647545532]

He didn't mention anything. The resurfacing, from what I read, was limited to patching only the worst parts; those that needed direct attention to prevent motorcycles from being destroyed. I don't think it's currently any better than it was last year, but I could be wrong.

[ol doc gully]

yeah thats about what id expect