TNT Kartways Confirms Sale and Closure of Facility
TNT Kartways in West Quincy, Missouri (Photo: Robert Turek - Qcy From Above)
The following is a statement from Terry Traeder of TNT Kartways regarding the recent sale of the land the karting facility resides on.
Terry Traeder has announced the sale of the TNT Kartways circuit located in West Quincy, Missouri to Good Day Farm – a medical cannabis dispensary company with 37 locations in Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana and Mississippi.
TNT Kartways was built by Gus and Fern Traeder and opened July 16, 1961. The track had a storied past holding more national championship races than any track in the nation, the last being in 1994. In 1966, the IKF National Championships was nationally televised by ABC Wide World of Sports with legendary announcer Jim McKay and director Roone Arledge. To this day, it is the only time karting has been televised on a major television network. Since 1994, the track has held local and regional events.
An older photo of TNT Kartways
Terry Traeder won multiple national and professional championships at TNT Kartways. He won the very first race held at the track as a 9-year-old junior driver at the grand opening July 16, 1961. He estimates to have run over 100,000 laps on the track during his driving career.
In 2020, the track was repaved with hopes of getting national events and bringing the track back to the glory days of the past. The national races with larger attendance was the only way to make the track financially successful. But, the efforts to bring those events to the track were unsuccessful. The organizations wanted to go to the newer facilities where tracks were longer and where there was more area for the large two vehicles teams now us.
Although the track was not for sale, Good Day Farm representatives contacted Terry Traeder about the purchase because of the great location on Highway 24 and easy access from Illinois. An agreement was reached where Good Day Farm would purchase the acreage where the track was located, and Traeder would retain ownership in the development property in the front nearest Highway 24. JB Hawks, West Quincy Pawn and Wise Finance all conduct business on that site. Traeder hopes other companies will want to locate on the site because of the high traffic count, easy access and lower taxes than Illinois.
Good Day Farm plans to build an attractive building and their business should increase the traffic count to the location, which will be beneficial to Marion County and West Quincy.
The Traeder Family will cherish the 63 years of memories made with drivers and crew members from all over the United States and the spectators and community members who were there for some of the biggest karting races in history.
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