Jimmy Hayes has taken over the promotional reins of Lexington 104 Speedway this year. He’s preparing for a big season at the Tennessee dirt track.
“We are extending the grandstand — we’re expecting more fans,” Hayes said. “We are putting metal on top of the bleachers. Our stands will go from [accommodating] 3,000 to 3,500.”
When Lexington 104 Speedway became available for lease, Jimmy Hayes gave up management of Corinth Motor Speedway in Mississippi so he could operate the Tennessee oval only a few miles away from his home.
“I’ve got a two-year lease with the option to buy Lexington 104 Speedway,” said Hayes. “I’ve always had race cars — since I was 17 years old — but I never saw myself on the other side of the fence.”
Hayes felt compelled to promote racetracks.
“I saw racetracks drying up,” Hayes said. “Tracks were going to half-schedules, and then closing. When I grew up, we raced three nights a weekend. Tracks had full schedules — every weekend — about 30 races a year.”
Lexington 104 Speedway will run on Fridays, from April through October.
“We’ll be the only track running on a Friday night in a 200-mile radius,” said Hayes. “Everyone seems to want to run on Saturday nights. I say think about the racing wives. When you race on Saturday night, the whole weekend is shot. The wives want some family time on the weekend. If you race on Friday, you can go home, clean up your car and still have most of the day Saturday and all day Sunday for family time, if you want it.”
Hayes added that racers and fans shouldn’t expect to stay all night, either.
“Just as I did in Corinth, I will run a tight ship,” Hayes said. “There, we started at 6:30 p.m. and only one night did we run past 9:30 p.m. The number one concern for the show is the fans — they don’t want to sit more than three hours.”
Hayes moved bleachers into the pit area to have a play area for the children of racers. He revamped the concessions, which will consist of two food stands and a third that serves just ice cream and milkshakes.
As far as for racers, he’s offering a guaranteed payout, regardless of car count. Hayes has also focused on safety.
“I’ve secured sponsors for safety,” said Hayes. “Local Dodge dealer Helms Motor Co. is on board sponsoring the ambulance service, EMTs, and firefighters for each race. We’ll have six professional first responders at every race.”
Jimmy Hayes is upbeat about the upcoming season for Lexington 104 Speedway and he said others feel the same way.
“The word is out that it is going to be a great year at Lexington 104 Speedway,” Hayes said. “We’ve already sold more than 40 reserved pit spots and we are just getting started.”
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.
