Path of generations: family ties fuel Bandimore Speedway

ColoradoBiz, Feb, 2003 by Mike Taylor

Bandimore Speedway is a Colorado landmark, its grandstands rising against the hillside known as the Dakota Hogback at Morrison Road and C-470.

Amid ear-splitting, high-speed machines rocketing down the quarter-mile asphalt stretch and the smells of fuel and burning rubber, the Bandimere family has been the human force behind the raceway for three generations. John Bandimere Sr. built the track in 1958 to give manufacturers a place to test their new products, to boost sales at his auto parts Business, but most of all to give young people a safe place to drag race. The track was passed clown to John Bandimere Jr. in 1970, and in 1998 John Bandimere III took over day-to-day operations as general manager. John Jr., 65, remains the track's president.

"My dad was a guy who had a lot of things going," says John Jr. of his late father. "He started a garage, and then he started a parts store and then after that he started a race track. In between that, he was in the manufacturing business. He was just an entrepreneur. I guess my early recollection of the whole deal was [much greater than] (Incompleted)

'Oh, I bet he never gets that (racetrack) done.' But gosh, it just turned out so slick."

John III, 37, shares his father's admiration forJohn Sr.

"My grandfather really was a pioneer in the high-performance industry," says John III, who goes by the nickname "Sporty" coined by his grandfather when John III was a tot. "He was kind of the first guy to ever super-charge a small-block Chevy and do a lot of things that today are pretty common in the performance industry"

Bandimere Speedway is one of the firms on the second annual ColoradoBiz list of top 40 family-owned businesses in the state. The companies are ranked by number of employees. To qualify, the companies had to meet the following criteria:

* A single family controls the company's ownership;

* The controlling family members are currently active in top management;

* The family has been involved in the company for at least two generations--or seems likely to be.

The Bandimeres are keenly aware of how rare third-generation businesses are.

Although an estimated 80 to 90 percent of all businesses in the U.S. are family enterprises, only 30 percent of them make it to the second generation, and only 10 percent make it to the third.

"From a family business standpoint it's really fun," says John III, who has three children of his own. "A lot of the grandkids are getting old enough that they can come out and be involved. Between my two sisters (Johnna and Tami), they have an additional five (children), so they're all at that age where they're either racing as participants or they're helping out in different areas where they can be a part of the business. You just typically don't have that opportunity much anymore. And I think that's neat."

Among the 17 full-time employees at the raceway--and 350 parttimers during racing season--five members of the Bandimere family work at the track, including Johnna's husband Larry Crispe, the facility manager.

John Sr., who died in 1986, would have been astonished by what the track has become on the national racing scene--but he would also be pleased by the grass-roots qualities it has retained. Bandimere Speedway seats 23,500 and hosts more than 120 events from April through October, including the prestigious Mile High Nationals, an event that generates revenue of $4 million for the track and pumps $15 million into the local economy, according to John III.

But the track also holds to John Sr.'s original vision of a refuge for kids, as it hosts high-school drag racing events on Memorial and Labor days. Last year those events attracted racers from 97 high schools.

There was a time, back in 2000, when it looked like Bandimere Speedway would move to Arapahoe County as part of a proposed $500 million racing and entertainment Mecca dubbed "WorldPark." The Bandimeres had lined up a buyer who planned to turn their existing 145-acre raceway into a commercial complex. But the super-speedway in Arapahoe County fell through when voters nixed the plan, and the prospective buyer of Bandimere Speedway backed out.

John Bandimere Jr. now says his track will stay put. But one change that could be coming is the name of the track. The speedway is currently in negotiations with an undisclosed company over naming rights for the track, and an announcement regarding the naming rights could come as early as March.

"Lord willing here in the next couple of months hopefully we'll be able to reveal some stuff on it," said John III. "Right now it's kind of under lock and key, but things are moving along really well. Some of the people we've talked to want to keep the Bandimere name as part of it, and in some cases they'd like to take it out."

Whatever name the track takes, the Bandimere tradition started 45 years ago by John Sr. will carry on. And with five of his great-grandchildren taking a liking to the sport, it seems a good bet that the family business will pass to a fourth generation. "It proves that if you love each other and you want to work together, you can make it work," says John Bandimere Jr.