Sure, showing up to your local short track helps, but there are several other ways you can ensure your favorite oval not only survives, but thrives. The good news is that most of it doesn’t cost you a cent to do, too.
1. Share the Positive, Private Message the Negative
Had a bad night at the races? Nobody’s perfect, and that includes promoters.
“I want perfection,” said Toby Kruse, who promotes 141, Belle-Clair and Marshalltown speedways. “That’s like being a driver who wants to win every night. Some nights may be close to a win. Sometimes things won’t be perfect. If you are on social media, please keep it positive. Casual fans reading negativity prevents them from attending.”
Have a bona fide issue with a track? Contact the facility directly, promoters advise.
“Fans should not go on forums and social media sites and bash the racetrack they attend every week,” said Lori Barton of Thunder Mountain Speedway in Kentucky. “If you are upset, you need to chill out and then contact the promoter. Maybe things can be resolved. Maybe there’s something we didn’t see and should review. But if you bash us on a forum, we’re not interested in helping you.”
2. Volunteer to Be the Change you Want to See
No one can run a track by themselves. It takes an army, and promoters appreciate the help, especially when it comes to routine maintenance items.
“I like going to Wrigley Field, and I could not imagine it without perfectly cut grass,” Kruse said. “Fans can step up and take pride in their speedway by offering to help mow, do weed eating or painting. Every night should look like opening night.”
Kruse has had volunteers turn into employees. The late Rod McTurk became a fixture at Marshalltown Speedway, a volunteer that became like a grandfather to Kruse.
“He volunteered to mow,” Kruse said. “He began doing it more and more. Finally, I told him to take some money for all he did. He said he only wanted a little bit of cash and some beer.
“Things are getting tougher and tougher for racetracks,” he continued. “They don’t make money like they used to. If a promoter has volunteers, take good care of them. Having that extra set of hands means a lot, so let them know how much they are appreciated.”
3. Tell Your Friends, and Not Just Your Facebook Ones
“Fans don’t promote their local speedway enough,” said Newport Speedway’s Chuck Ward. “A fan could help us immensely by taking five minutes of time to let the world know our track is in existence.”
Sharing your favorite track on social media is one thing, but telling others in the real world helps even more.
“We use shoe leather promotion,” Dixie Speedway’s Mia Green said. “Fans could spread the word to businesses and schools, and tell them how community oriented we are, and how we work together with our diverse community through programs and promotions.”
4. Treat Your Track Like You’d Treat Your Home
How would you treat your home? Like how you treat your weekly track? Hopefully not, judging by the actions of some fans.
For example, one promoter shut down restrooms and went to using porta potties. Why? Some would throw brown paper towels intended for drying hands into the toilets, stopping them up. Then other fans would use those clogged toilets. Eventually it led to waste spewing everywhere.
This is just one example why we can’t have nice things.
Mike Van Genderen promotes several tracks in the Midwest, including Independence Motor Speedway, Mountain Dew Bloomfield Speedway, Revving It Up at Hwy 39 Speedway, Scotland County Speedway and Stuart International Speedway. He has seen it all.
“Never vandalize anything at your speedway,” said Van Genderen. “Throw your trash away. Clean up around your car if you have left things in the parking lot. If you tailgate, take everything with you. If it rains, litter becomes a mess. Realize someone has to walk the track and parking lot to pick litter up after the races are over.”
Likewise, racers who just dump their old tires on the grounds just create more headache and expense for the track promoter. The cost to dispose of those tires raises gate prices and impedes on growing purses.
5. Pay it Forward
Want to see bigger purses? Want to see more people at the races? Most promoters will enable its fans to help make that happen.
For example, Judy Gustin and Kathy Link work all year long to spread word and raise funds for contingency prizes for the Dale DeFrance Memorial at Marshalltown Speedway.
“The history of a speedway lives on through dedicated fans who raise funds for special events memorializing drivers of the past,” Kruse said. “They volunteer countless hours that a promoter may not have. Dale is remembered to this day because of it.”
At Thunder Mountain Speedway, fans and drivers help sponsor the admission for lucky fans.
“Fans and drivers help put the first 200 people in the stands for free recently,” Barton said. “We have fans who will pay admission for one person or more. The look on [the fans’] faces when they are told a fan or driver paid for them is priceless.”
Dixie Speedway helps develop a connection between the sponsor and the lucky benefactor who received the free admission with a wristband bearing that sponsor’s name.
“If it is a fan that donated, that’s spreading the word about how great the speedway is,” Green said. “If it’s a driver, he or she got a new fan. If it’s a business, they got a new customer.”
The point being, we’re all in this together, and when everyone works together, everybody benefits.
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.
