Bobby and Janelle Lincoln will take over as promoters of Dawson County Raceway in Lexington, Nebraska — and their daughter, Daniyll Lincoln, comes with them. The Lincolns also promote US 30 Speedway in Columbus, Nebraska. There Daniyll earned her stripes as one of the best in the business at what she does.
“I have a secret weapon going to Lexington with me,” Bobby said. “I have something I believe no other racetrack has. A 25-year-old woman handles all the track prep, and that would be my daughter, Daniyll.”
Bobby learned the ropes of the racing business from his late father, Abe Lincoln. (His gravesite resides at the pits of US 30 Speedway.) Abe built the track in the 1980s, and today 12 members of his family continue to work at the facility.
“Daniyll said she wanted to learn everything her grandfather taught me in my 33 years working for him,” said Bobby.
Daniyll’s meticulously grooms the surface at US 30 Speedway over the course of three days before race day. It results in some of the raciest action in the area.
“I’m very conscious of my job — I don’t even like a ripple in my track,” Daniyll, who also works as a special education teacher, said. “When the drivers have a smooth track, I did my job. There is nothing more exciting for me on race night than to see the IMCA modifieds going five-wide in the turns.”
The Lincolns took over Dawson County Raceway for a noble reason.
“The program there is solid, but the promoter, Chad Dolan, announced he would retire after the 2021 season — no one stepped up to promote the track,” said Bobby. “We were afraid that if it would close, it would hurt the racing community.”
The Lincolns invited every employee who worked at Dawson County Raceway back for 2022. Daniyll, however, will now prepare the track at the Lexington, Nebraska, oval, too. She will have to adjust from the clay surface at US 30 Speedway to the black dirt at Dawson County Raceway.
“We’re going up there well before the season starts to learn about that surface and how to make it perfect,” Daniyll said. “The track is 45′ wide, and we want to see three-wide racing there.”
Drivers, such as four-time IMCA national modified champion Jordan Grabouski, give Daniyll high praise for her ability to groom a track surface.
“Daniyll loves her job — her work ethic is incredible,” said Grabouski, of Beatrice, Nebraska. “She puts a lot of work into making sure the track is perfect.”
Daniyll Lincoln carries on the Lincoln family legacy that Abe started so many years ago.
“I get to work with my daughters,” Bobby said, also referencing his other daughter, Samantha, who is in charge of scoring. “Now, they are telling me what to do. The next generation of Lincolns is getting ready to take over.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
