Colorado’s Bandimere Family Clears a Key Hurdle to Rebuild a Historic Drag Strip

A rare racetrack comeback is taking shape in Colorado

In an era when motorsports venues are often sold off, encroached upon by development, or simply allowed to disappear, the Bandimere family’s effort to reopen a major drag strip in Colorado now looks more real. The town council in Hudson, Colorado, has unanimously approved annexation and zoning measures for a new site northeast of Denver, clearing an important procedural hurdle for the return of Bandimere Speedway.

The development is notable because it offers a counterpoint to the more familiar story of racetrack decline. The original Bandimere Speedway in Morrison closed in 2023 after 65 years of operation. Rather than treating the closure as an endpoint, the family behind the venue set out to relocate and rebuild.

According to the source material, John Bandimere Jr. announced in 2025 that the family had purchased land in Weld County for a new track site. The recent vote in Hudson is the next major step toward turning that land purchase into an operational facility, although no construction start date has been announced.

Why the original site closed

The Morrison track was not simply a venue that ran out of interest. It had become constrained by surrounding development. That pattern has become common for motorsports facilities across the United States. Tracks that were once remote enough to operate with few conflicts can become boxed in as suburban growth extends outward. Noise complaints rise, land values change, and long-term operating certainty weakens.

Bandimere’s closure therefore reflected a broader land-use reality, not just a business failure. The family’s response matters because it suggests one possible survival model for legacy venues: move before the institution disappears entirely.

That is easier said than done. Rebuilding a track requires land, local political support, zoning clarity, and enough confidence that the new site will remain viable for decades. The unanimous council decision indicates that, at least for now, Hudson’s local leadership is willing to accommodate the project.

Why the new site could work

The planned location sits next to Interstate 76 northeast of Denver, giving the project visibility and regional access while placing it farther from the development pressures that squeezed the original facility. Hudson is about 10 miles farther out than Morrison, which should give the operation more room to spread out.

That extra room is not trivial. A modern drag strip requires more than the quarter-mile itself. It needs staging areas, spectator facilities, paddock and support space, circulation, parking, and enough buffer from surrounding land uses to reduce conflict. A site with greater physical breathing room can improve both event operations and long-term resilience.

The source material also notes that the new location sits at about 5,000 feet above sea level, meaning altitude will remain a factor for racers just as it was at the original site. That detail matters to the sport’s identity. Rather than abandoning the high-altitude challenge that shaped Bandimere’s character, the move appears likely to preserve it.

More than a local nostalgia story

Although the story is local in geography, it reflects larger questions about the future of motorsports infrastructure. Many tracks face a difficult mix of aging facilities, shifting land economics, and community pressure. Once they close, reopening is rare. The easier path is often to sell the land and let the venue vanish.

Bandimere is unusual because the owners did not take that route. The effort therefore carries symbolic weight for the wider racing community. It suggests that preservation can mean adaptation, not just defense of an old site. If a venue cannot remain where it was built, its organizers may still be able to protect the institution by transplanting it.

The Drive’s source text places this project alongside other signs of racetrack renewal, including revival plans for Willow Springs Raceway and long-term security for Virginia International Raceway. Taken together, those cases hint at a modest but meaningful countermovement against the steady attrition of American racing venues.

What still needs to happen

The approval in Hudson is substantial, but it is not the finish line. Land-use permission is a prerequisite, not an opening day. Construction timing remains unknown, and major venue projects carry familiar execution risks involving financing, design, infrastructure, permitting details, and community expectations.

There is also the challenge of translating goodwill into a facility that serves multiple constituencies. A successful modern drag strip must work for sanctioning bodies, club racers, spectators, and local authorities at the same time. If the new Bandimere is to be durable, it will need to balance the heritage value of the old venue with the operational demands of a new one.

What to watch next

• Whether the Bandimere family announces a construction timeline for the Hudson site.
• How the venue is designed to take advantage of the larger footprint and new location.
• Whether major event organizers, including NHRA stakeholders, signal support for the new facility.
• How local sentiment evolves as the project moves from approvals to physical development.

For now, the important fact is that a rare motorsports resurrection has moved from intention to credible possibility. After the 2023 closure of Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, the family behind the track chose relocation over retreat. With Hudson’s unanimous annexation and zoning approval now in hand, that choice has become the foundation for a genuine comeback attempt.

This article is based on reporting by The Drive. Read the original article.