After two seasons at the promotional helm of Hancock County Speedway, Darin and Chris Toot will step down. The father-and-son duo simply want to devote time to other activities. Darin has a growing trucking company. Chris would like to race his stock car more.
Prior to taking over Hancock County Speedway, they previously owned and operated Chateau Speedway.
“It’s time versus money,” Darin, of Albert Lea, Minnesota, said. “My trucking customers want more service. Toot’s Trucking hauls food products of all kinds. While running a racetrack, you just don’t swing open the gates on Friday night — it takes days of preparation — and for me those days are stressful because they are days that I can’t grow my trucking business.”
Darin said they increased fan and car counts this past year. Prior to the season, they explained to the fair board what needed to be done to improve those numbers.
“[I told the fair board that they] needed to concentrate on marketing,” said Darin. “They did, and this year’s numbers reflected that. They found sponsors for the speedway that shared sponsorship with the fair. Our job was to run the race program — the show, the food orders, and general operations.”
Darin and Chris realize the gravity of the decision to step away from Hancock County Speedway as promoters.
“My son and I had a heart to heart,” Darin said. “He told me to do what I want to do. I told him I don’t want to do it without him. He said he wanted to drive more, but didn’t want to say no to helping me at the speedway.”
The father-and-son duo want to see Hancock County Speedway prosper for years to come. They’re concerned, though, as they said no one has expressed interest in taking it over.
“I watched the speedway be built in 1995,” Darin said. “My biggest fear is that the track will go away. Once a speedway goes away, it rarely comes back. Hopefully someone will step up. We’re here to help. My team will be glad to help with the transition to a new promoter.”
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.
