One closing, one opening for local racing fans

One surprise closing was announced this week, offset by another one that came just days earlier, both of them sure to make waves among motorsports fans in the region.

Owners of the Turkey Penn Extreme Adventure park — a massive 3,800-acre site near Doniphan with more than 40 miles of off-road trails for ATVs, motorcycles, dune-buggies and other off-road vehicles — announced this week that the facility has closed less than 6 months after it opened.

I haven't been able to reach owner Todd Smith, but a message on the company's web site late Monday announced the bad news.

"Thank you to all of you that patronized our facility," the site said. "Due to the economy we have not been able to obtain the funding needed to complete or continue operating Turkey Penn."

Just weeks earlier, plans were being discussed to develop an area suitable for truck pulls and monster truck shows, along with a slightly-banked oval track for karts, ATVs and potentially stock cars.

But just a few miles away, Rick Donnell is putting the finishing touches on an oval dirt track that could be ready for stock car racing within a few weeks.

The track, 3 miles west of Doniphan on State Route A, has been under construction for almost two years. Only a few final details are left unfinished, including the addition of lights for nighttime racing.

Weekly racing will be on Friday nights and could feature several divisions, including open-wheel modifieds, street stocks, cruisers and four-cylinders. Special events for late models, sprints and other classes could be added.

The track is a quarter-mile oval with straightaways almost 300 feet long.

It would be the fourth track in Southeast Missouri to feature stock cars on Friday nights — tracks in Doe Run, Fredericktown and Malden also compete on Fridays, while St. Francois County Speedway near Farmington holds weekly events on Saturdays.