Despite a population of 7,974 for its county (that’s 1.7 people per square mile), and experiencing lackluster crowds and car counts prior to closing in 2019, the resurrected Salmon Valley Speedway now prospers. Now, the Salmon, Idaho, speed plant embarks on its third season since reopening this weekend, May 12–13.
(For the reopening of the track, read “Salmon Valley Speedway Comes Back to Life”.)
How Salmon Valley Speedway Got the Crowds
Promoter Sean Jackson said he’s seen an upward climb in car counts and crowds. Much of it is due to his pragmatic, yet proactive take on operating a dirt track.
“One hundred percent of the back gate entry fees go into the purse,” Jackson said. “We pay by percentages of money collected per finishing position. The bigger tracks may pay more than we do, but no one complains here because everyone and anyone can make the feature.”
He added that the track is nearing 20 cars in each of its regular classes. Part of that success stems from Jackson reminding racers what racing is about, such as with the renegade street stock division.
“A street stock should not be a $30,000 roller,” Jackson said. “There were cars sitting out in the fields and in backyards. I welcome the old cars. I tell potential street stock drivers we are a ¼-mile dirt track — it doesn’t matter how much money you have. All that matters is that you have a car that runs and how well you can drive.”
The Biggest Reason Behind the Success
More importantly, Jackson got the local community to believe in Salmon Valley Speedway.
“The whole town of Salmon and the County of Lemhi are behind this track,” said Jackson. “The town just loves racing.”
Community involvement resulted in $250,000 in improvements at the track. Physical improvements to the track and its walls, as well as LED lighting, with the local electric company helping put up the poles. Dahle Construction and the local CAT dealer donated construction equipment. Salmon Valley Speedway also received a $5,000 grant from Idaho tourism department and the county to help with weed abatement.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of the support the track has been able to garner.
“A long list of local business helped us with money and people,” Jackson said. “This is like how old-school racing was in the ’70s and ’80s. We have a nucleus, and it is amazing what this track is turning into.”
The Plan Ahead
When Jackson took over the track, he started with a five-year plan. He seems to be on schedule for what he had hoped to accomplish.
“In the second year, we broke even,” said Jackson. “This season we are prettying things up. Next year, it will be grandstand improvements and more.”
The 2023 season starts this weekend with the Cathy “Gigi” Bowen Memorial. It honors the woman who spearheaded the construction of the track. Her grandson, Kyler Bowen, will race in the IMCA modifieds. If you can’t make it to Salmon Valley Speedway to spectate, you can watch at salmonvalleyspeedway.tv. That’s just another example of Sean Jackson’s proactive approach.
“Those who watch will want to come to the track,” Jackson said, who then added another benefit of streaming races. “The days of sponsors only looking at billboards on top of the walls are over. They are looking on social media, the internet, and Googling to see where their company show up. The more hits a racetrack gets, the more sponsors it will get.”
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Corrected the time frame of when the track was last closed (2023-05-12).
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.
