Shuttered Colorado Drag Strip Gets Approval To Reopen at a New Location

Stories of racetracks being put up for sale or outright closing are unfortunately common these days. Like many small businesses, owners sometimes want to move on and can’t find anyone interested in taking over. Add impatient neighbors and the value of the land these tracks sit on, and it’s no wonder the ranks are thinning. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Bandimere Speedway, a family-owned quarter-mile drag strip in Colorado, closed in 2023 after 65 years of operation. But since then the Bandimere family has been trying to move the track to a new location, a project that just cleared a major hurdle. Local news station 9News reported that the town council of Hudson, Colorado, has unanimously approved annexation and zoning measures for the new location next to Interstate 76 northeast of Denver.

John Bandimere Jr.—son of track founder John Bandimere Sr.—announced in 2025 that the family had purchased land in Weld County (where Hudson is located) for a new track site. The affirmative vote by the town council is an important step toward actually using the land for that purchase, although there has been no announcement yet on when construction will start.

Bandimere Speedway was originally located in Morrison, Colorado, but became hemmed in by development. The family closed the original track with the full intention of reopening at a new site with more space. It hosted NHRA events (it was known as “Thunder Mountain” on the pro circuit) and smaller club events through that final year of operation.

The Bandimere family was reportedly looking for a spot in the Denver area at the time of the track’s closure. Hudson is about 10 miles farther out than Morrison, but that should give Bandimere the desired room to spread out. It also sits at an elevation of 5,000 feet above sea level, so altitude will remain a challenge for racers just as it did at the original site.

A lot still needs to happen before a Christmas tree shines at Bandimere Speedway again, but at least the Bandimere family has a plan to keep the track going. Other owners might put up a “for sale” sign and wait for someone to write a big check, or just leave things to rot. Happily, those stories are increasingly counterbalanced by one’s like Bandimere’s. Willow Springs Raceway has new owners with plans to revive the track, and Virginia International Raceway’s owners recently secured that road course’s long-term future.

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