Great Bend City officials hope the Sunflower Rod and Custom Association dragstrip will be ready to reopen for the 2026 racing season. At Monday’s City Council meeting, the council approved a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) agreement with Bartlett & West for $5,205,405.
City Administrator Logan Burns explained the breakdown for funding:
• $3,282,064 lawsuit money remaining
• $495,000 APRA (American Rescue Plan Act) money
• $663,936 SPARKS (Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas) money
• $161,500 leftover monies from Loft Grant
• $122,367 dragstrip maintenance money transfers
• $480,538 year-end transfers
Background
The SRCA is a volunteer organization that manages and maintains the track. After the historic dragstrip at the Great Bend Expo Complex west of town was completed in May of 2021. SRCA notified city administration that several high spots existed on the track’s surface that caused dragsters to shake and their wheels to leave the track. Attempts to get the track within specifications led to other problems, until drag races were halted in April of 2023 due to safety concerns. Lawsuits over the dragstrip were settled with Suchy Construction last November and with EBH in December 2024. The City did not disclose details of the settlements.
Monday’s meeting
Jim Rinner, design build manager with Bartlett & West, answered questions.
Councilman Gary Parr commented on the total cost of the dragstrip project.
“We’re going to be almost $7 million into this,” Parr noted. “I’m assuming the SRCA and their consultants are down with this design? They’re OK with this design?”
Rinner confirmed that the SRCA and its consultants have been involved in the planning.
“It’s been a collaboration all the way along,” he said. “We’ve been having regular meetings with SRCA, with Logan and the design team, and various contractors too, trying to come up with the very best solution for it.”
“Jim and his team has done a really good job,” Mayor Cody Schmidt added. “They’ve really dug into the weeds and looked at it. They know what’s at stake; they know what we came out of. So I feel really comfortable. I think Logan feels really comfortable, absolutely. We’re only gonna get one more shot at this, but I think it has to be done.”
Rinner said his firm is showing a completion date around March 1.
“You’ll be seeing a lot of work happening fast. We expect we’re showing start of demolition in about three weeks, or around Aug. 11. We expect to be mobilizing the paving crews by mid-September and should be seeing a lot of pavement going down ...”
“We’re all looking forward to it,” Parr said. “I’m telling you right now, there’s a lot of people that have missed this for a very long time.”
Monday’s action
City Administrator Burns presented the facts for Monday’s action, noting in May the City signed an agreement with Bartlett & West to move forward on 100% design on the dragstrip (See “Engineering bid approved for dragstrip, May 8 Great Bend Tribune https://www.gbtribune.com/news/local-news/engineering-bid-approved-for-dragstrip/). “We have now received Amendment No. 2 ... for the complete demolition, grading, and reconstruction of the track.”
Burns said the costs include demolition/grading, timing system removal and installation, dragstrip paving, crash walls and an allowance for tower reconstruction, because the city is moving the tower and moving the track starting line 300 feet to the west.
