Bandimere Speedway near Morrison is working on plans for a new location

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Bandimere family is providing more details about its plans to relocate Bandimere Speedway, which is set to close in October, as it hoste the Dodge Power Brokers Mile High NHRA Nationals last weekend.

e speedway along C-470 near Morrison has been operating in that location for 65 years, and company President John Bandimere Jr. said in April that it’s time to nd a better location.

e family has been looking for a new location for about a year, Bandimere Jr. has said, and it will take a year o from the racing busi- ness and hopes to relocate to more acreage in the metro Denver area. A large tract of land near Denver International Airport is a possibility.

“I want to make one thing clear,” Bandimere Jr. said at a news conference on July 12. “Some people think we are being pushed out by housing. ere is no question they’re building a lot of houses here, but not one person has given us a bad time.

“I feel very comfortable with why we are leaving,” he said. “We just need more space.” e current Bandimere Speedway can accommodate 28,500 spectators as it hosts more than 130 events a year. It has nearly 30,000 competitors each season, and it hosts one of the largest youth programs in the country, according to the Bandimere website.

He said the current speedway doesn’t have running water, so he would like to see bathrooms in the new location along with better seating and more parking.

According to Bandimere Jr., John Bandimere Sr. and his wife Frances originally opened the racetrack in Arvada in 1956 as an expansion of their automotive machining and auto parts business and to provide “a place for people, especially for young people, to enjoy the speed and performance of the automobile and to get o the streets.”

In 1958, because of noise and other concerns in Arvada, the Ban-