Bradford

[False dawn]

Apologies if this has been discussed to death in the past....

I've just seen on the news that Bradford Bulls are "back". During the news piece there was an interview with the stadium in the background and you can quite clearly see that the track is still there. Do I have a vague memory that they still run stock cars? I also seem to recall that speedway is now impossible because of the VIP grandstand sticking out over the track. If my memories are all correct, how is it possible to run stock cars but not speedway. I have many fond memories of going to Odsal back in the day, including two WC finals.

[soupy]

7 minutes ago, False dawn said:

Apologies if this has been discussed to death in the past....

I've just seen on the news that Bradford Bulls are "back". During the news piece there was an interview with the stadium in the background and you can quite clearly see that the track is still there. Do I have a vague memory that they still run stock cars? I also seem to recall that speedway is now impossible because of the VIP grandstand sticking out over the track. If my memories are all correct, how is it possible to run stock cars but not speedway. I have many fond memories of going to Odsal back in the day, including two WC finals.

Yes they run stock cars but not any more as they are stopping them.

[False dawn]

1 minute ago, soupy said:

Yes they run stock cars but not any more as they are stopping them.

Thank you.

But my question remains; if stock cars are/were possible, why is speedway impossible?

[soupy]

The new promotion are just concentrating on Bradford Bulls in the Super League hence why no stock cars since November and no speedway,Plus the cost to install everything.

[Fromafar]

5 minutes ago, False dawn said:

Thank you.

But my question remains; if stock cars are/were possible, why is speedway impossible?

Think it’s something to do with a Grandstand Building being to close to track at the bend to do install track.

[MajorMauger]

The executive stand at Odsal is situated where the old 1980's/90's speedway pits used to be on the 3rd and 4th bend. It is still possible to run speedway at Bradford but extra safety fencing and slight bend realignment would likely be required on that 3rd and 4th bend.

 

The main reason speedway hasn't returned to Odsal is the very high costs involved in making the track suitable for speedway, building new speedway pits and signing a team plus weekly running costs. This is when one considers that in Bradfords last season in 1997 they won the inaugural Elite League with an excellent, exciting team that included Havelock, Loram and Screen yet often struggled to attract crowds of 4 figures which resulted in a big loss. The closure was probably heavily influenced by these losses although the Ham promotion at the time claimed it was pending stadium redevelopment that made them end the speedway. 

Edited yesterday at 11:57 AM by MajorMauger

[mikebv]

When is the sliding roof going to be in place?

Maybe Speedway will relaunch there then?

[phillwhitewasmad]

Wondering why there no enthusiasm to build a purpose built track for cars and bikes at Bradford. Always seems to be no objection to the noise and would get away from the bulls who's recent financial history is poor they are in and out of odsal more than a guest at a speedway meeting 

[Tapewrecker]

10 minutes ago, mikebv said:

When is the sliding roof going to be in place?

Maybe Speedway will relaunch there then?

More chance of speedway returning to the Shay than that happening.

[Fortythirtyeight]

3 hours ago, phillwhitewasmad said:

Wondering why there no enthusiasm to build a purpose built track for cars and bikes at Bradford. Always seems to be no objection to the noise and would get away from the bulls who's recent financial history is poor they are in and out of odsal more than a guest at a speedway meeting 

As recent history has shown the local area has no desire for motorsport in the area or rugby ! If you have driven around the area you will release that the inhabitants are mainly Asian and they just don’t get motorsports so any fan base would have to travel and combine that with the costs of upgrading and developing a dilapidated stadium means it’s never going to happen no matter how many times people insist on bringing it up on this forum. 

[mikebv]

5 minutes ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

As recent history has shown the local area has no desire for motorsport in the area or rugby ! If you have driven around the area you will release that the inhabitants are mainly Asian and they just don’t get motorsports so any fan base would have to travel and combine that with the costs of upgrading and developing a dilapidated stadium means it’s never going to happen no matter how many times people insist on bringing it up on this forum. 

I was an Area Manager covering Bradford for one of the UK's biggest businesses...

And one of my stores had, (using loyalty card info), a 95% Asian customer base..

Hence, the range of products I put in was very much tailored for sub continent customers... 

The store in question had 30,000 visits per week...

Definelty not a city with enough of a demographic to follow Speedway I would suggest... ..

[Preston Comet]

20 hours ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

As recent history has shown the local area has no desire for motorsport in the area or rugby ! If you have driven around the area you will release that the inhabitants are mainly Asian and they just don’t get 'LEGAL' motorsports so any fan base would have to travel and combine that with the costs of upgrading and developing a dilapidated stadium means it’s never going to happen no matter how many times people insist on bringing it up on this forum. 

Just made ur post factually correct there 40-38..

[TheTopDrawer]

21 hours ago, mikebv said:

I was an Area Manager covering Bradford for one of the UK's biggest businesses...

And one of my stores had, (using loyalty card info), a 95% Asian customer base..

Hence, the range of products I put in was very much tailored for sub continent customers... 

The store in question had 30,000 visits per week...

Definelty not a city with enough of a demographic to follow Speedway I would suggest... ..

Surely if a small supermarket could draw 30,000 visits per week from the 33% Asian population of Bradford, then A Speedway team could draw a 60,000 gate from the 60% of white people in Bradford?

[Tapewrecker]

On 2/14/2026 at 12:05 PM, mikebv said:

When is the sliding roof going to be in place?

Maybe Speedway will relaunch there then?

Or make the track smaller.

[Neila]

Apparently Bradford bulls kicked out the stock car people because the rugby league said for them to be a super League club, the pitch had to be, and remain a certain size at all times, they would not allow them to lift the corners in any circumstances. This dispite the stock cars bringing in upto 10k people into odsal every 4 weeks or so spring summer and autumn, , and the rugby club benefiting from food sales and rent 

[DaveWayne]

On 2/14/2026 at 10:33 AM, False dawn said:

Thank you.

But my question remains; if stock cars are/were possible, why is speedway impossible?

Because the new stand on the pits turn has supporting legs that are very close to the outer edge of the track. The likelihood of a stock car going over the fence is far less than that of a speedway rider, and even if they did they would be protected by the car they were in. I know that riders clearing fences doesn't happen often, but it does happen, and therefore the risk could not be taken.

[DaveWayne]

1 hour ago, Neila said:

Apparently Bradford bulls kicked out the stock car people because the rugby league said for them to be a super League club, the pitch had to be, and remain a certain size at all times, they would not allow them to lift the corners in any circumstances. This dispite the stock cars bringing in upto 10k people into odsal every 4 weeks or so spring summer and autumn, , and the rugby club benefiting from food sales and rent 

It's all about the money !!

In 1997, both Stock Cars and Speedway were kicked out of Odsal by the Bulls as the Super League had recently come into existence and Sky were throwing money at it, so they no longer needed the rental income. Plans for a fully enclosed 'Superdome' were published, which obviously would have made motorsports unfeasible.

From 2012 to 2017, the Bulls went into administration 3 times, also dropping out of the Super League in 2014, and the 3rd one ended in liquidation. The Bulls that exist now are a completely new entity formed in 2017. During that first period of administration the RFL had to step in and purchase the leasehold on the stadium to help keep the club afloat. At the end of the 2019 season, they were still struggling financially and could no longer afford the rent so they moved out to Dewsbury for 2 seasons, leaving the RFL with an empty stadium.

During the winter of 2020, the last Stock Car promotion to run at Odsal (Startrax), negotiated a return to Odsal with the RFL and made agreement with the Bulls to come back in with them. Allegedly, this was very beneficial to the Bulls, as rumour is that they had fallen out with the Dewsbury chairman and were going to be homeless in 2021.

Since the return, the pitch has never met the minimum size specified in the rule book, but the RFL seemed happy to overlook this. However, now they have been 'promoted' back to the Super League, it has become more of an issue. Unfortunately for Stock Car racing, this promotion means the Bulls will be far better off financially, and it also coincides with the Bulls taking over the leasehold on the stadium from the RFL, giving them far more control over what happens. Despite the Stock Car promoters still having several years on the lease agreement, they are no longer welcome at Odsal, and I believe legal proceedings have taken place, but the rumour is that this was more about compensation than any possible return.

The fact is, that without Startrax reopening Odsal in 2021 (a massive gamble as we were still under Covid restrictions at the time), the Bulls would not be playing there now, and would certainly not have been in the position to be rejoining the Super League. Then their fans wonder why all stock car fans are wishing for them to get relegated, go bust, or both !!