Tri City Raceway Land Sold for West Richland Cop Shop

A sad day in the world of racing, as the official death certificate has been filed for what was once a proving ground for some of the best NASCAR and other drivers in the world of motorsports. The ONLY half mile track proven to be faster than TCR was none other than Bristol, Tennessee.

The Port of Kennewick has agreed to sell the 92 acre parcel that makes up the former Tri-City Raceway to the City of West Richland, it will be the home of the new much needed police station.  The new facility was approved by voters to build a new cop shop last November. The 22,500 square foot facility is expected to be started on by November of 2020. The price was said to be $1.87 million after all costs included.

Original plans were build on Bombing Range Road, but area residents objected to it, saying it didn't fit the 'master' plan idea for their area.

The Port had purchased the facility from former owner Paul Alderman in 2006, and nothing was done to develop it. A series of bond and other underwriting tasks will begin to financially start the project. The actual police facility will take up five acres, while the rest will be slated for economic development. The track comes with water rights, but everyone associated with racing there knows the wells contain nitrates that make the 'raw' water undrinkable.

Opened in 1969, the track was the proving ground for many drivers who went onto fame in NASCAR and other forms of racing, including NASCAR Legends Ron Hornaday (Craftsman Truck Series) Mike Bliss (Craftsman Truck Series Champion) and most notably Greg Biffle, who was the first driver to ever win both the NASCAR Trucks and Busch Series Championships. Davey Hamilton of Indy Car fame ran there in a modified, and 1990 Daytona 500 champ Derrike Cope ran there with the NASCAR Northwest Tour in the 1980's.

Biffle was the TCR Late Model Class champion in 1995 and 1996 before his rise to fame in NASCAR.

Alderman ran the track for a couple of successful seasons, most notably in 2002, when it hosted it's first Winston West Race in many years to a capacity sellout crowd. However, Alderman's lack of patience with not turning a quick profit rapidly led to him selling the track by 2006.  It's last race was run in 2005.  Biffle, according to many sources, attempted to purchase the facility but was rebuffed by Alderman reportedly over price.

Several NASCAR legends, including Tony Stewart with El Dora, have purchased the racetracks where they cut their teeth, to save them from shutting down or being paved over by shopping malls or parking lots. Biffle had already lost Portland, and wanted to preserve TCR.

The track was still used occasionally for autocross, but all the infrastructure (grandstands, buildings, pit equipment etc) was torn out years ago, leaving only a shell of what was NASCAR glory.

As a former announcer there for many years, it's sad to see it finally go.