Local Race Track Owners Fight Rezoning In Manatee County
My need for speed began when I was just a typical blonde-haired, freckled kid growing up in Kentucky. My uncle had just come back from Vietnam. He rumbled up to…

The tracks have been operating for decades.
(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)My need for speed began when I was just a typical blonde-haired, freckled kid growing up in Kentucky. My uncle had just come back from Vietnam. He rumbled up to our family reunion on that curvy dirt road riding his reward for making it back home alive...a shiny BSA Lightning motorcycle with a chrome tank.
I kept staring at that gorgeous piece of machinery as I wolfed down country ham and sweet tea. My cousin must have seen me drooling, because he asked me if I wanted a ride. I instinctively looked at my mom, who silently nodded with a knowing smile. I was so small that I had to wrap myself around the gas tank and hold on to the center of the handlebars with all my might. As we putted off into the distance, my cousin revved each gear a little higher and gained a little more speed. I remember feeling my body slide back on the tank as we accelerated. Finally, when we reached the paved portion of that road, my cousin gave that bike all it had. As the adrenaline surged through my body, I grinned broadly and felt the tears being driven from my eyes. We went 110 mph. I was 5 years old. That day changed my life. A switch was flipped, an adventurer was born.
Since then I've owned, built and raced countless cars, motorcycles and anything with wheels. I became a member of the 200 mph Club at the Texas Mile on my turbocharged Hayabusa motorcycle. I've raced modified Corvettes and Camaros at dozens of tracks across as many states. A track provides a place to meet with friends and people who share your passion. It's also nice to have a facility that has been designed from the ground up to minimize risk to drivers and spectators. When I hit a wall in my 2,400 horsepower Outlaw 10.5 Corvette a few years back, an ambulance with track personnel was the first to respond. I've raced at Bradenton Motorsports Park dozens of times and I've watched Freedom Factory/Cleetus McFarland videos for years.
Despite the huge success of two race tracks in Manatee County, they are both currently at risk of disappearing, and we can't have that. Bradenton Motorsports Park and The Freedom Factory, which is right next door, are caught up in a zoning battle that could erase them both from existence if they lose the fight. A real estate developer wants to rezone an area next to the tracks and build houses there. Here's the problem, wherever that has happened in the past, it's meant the eventual demise of the track involved. You see, people who buy the houses that are close to the tracks wind up complaining about the noise anyway and the track is forced to close. The thing is, the tracks have been there for about 50 years and they are thriving. The owner of The Freedom Factory, Garrett Mitchell aka Cleetus McFarland, has over 2.5 million followers on YouTube. It's arguably the largest automotive channel in America. See the issue?
Just yesterday, the owners of both respectibve tracks appeared at a zoning meeting in Manatee County in an attempt to convince administrators to deny the rezoning request. Over 15,000 people watched the proceedings (as I did) via streaming and thousands of other racing fans voiced their opinions by email and social media. Many supporters even showed up in person, one flying in from Arizona to have his voice heard. The rezoning request was okayed 5-2 by the board and now moves to the state level.
Source: Channel13News.com
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Rock Stars Made Bank In 2022
Top 20 Highest-Grossing Rock Tours of 2022
The tour industry bounced back significantly in 2022 following a shutdown of nearly 18 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Billboard has an extensive breakdown of nearly every fact and figure related to touring in 2022. The biggest ranking of them all is the top 100 list of the highest-grossing tours of the year. While rapper Bad Bunny topped the list grossing over $373 million, many of rock's biggest names weren't far behind. In fact, five rock artists made up the top 10 highest-grossing tours of 2022.
So, which artists are likely swimming in tour revenue cash Scrooge McDuck-style? Scroll below to see the top 20 artists that grossed the most money on the road in 2022.
Machine Gun Kelly

$40,778,471 (Ranked #48 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Metallica

$43,398,993 (Ranked #47on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Dead & Company

$45,943,957 (Ranked #45 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Trans-Siberian Orchestra

$54,649,313 (Ranked #36 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Dave Matthews Band

$62,563,364 (Ranked #34 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Billy Joel

$65,906,424 (Ranked #33 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Phish

$68,598,398 (Ranked #31 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Roger Waters

$69,813,262 (Ranked #30 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Iron Maiden

$76,147,773 (Ranked #26 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Genesis

$81,935,379 (Ranked #25 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Imagine Dragons

$87,531,563 (Ranked #21 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
My Chemical Romance

$87,926,378 (Ranked #20 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Guns N' Roses

$93,383,197 (Ranked #17 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
The Eagles

$104,175,869 (Ranked #16 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Paul McCartney

$105,077,796 (Ranked #15 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
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Red Hot Chili Peppers

$176,998,650 (Ranked #7 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
The Rolling Stones

$179,349,815 (Ranked #6 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Coldplay

$208,000,727 (Ranked #5 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
Elton John

$334,385,023 (Ranked #2 on Billboard's Top Tours of 2022 chart.)
One of the track owners is a huge YouTube star...