West Virginia Motor Speedway opened its season to several thousand fans and 134 cars. Second-year owner Mike Hurley said he didn’t do any special advertising. Instead he worked on building trust with his fans and racers.
“With today’s economy and race promotion, racers first ask, ‘Will the promoter cut the purse?’” Hurley said. “Everyone around here knows I pay my bills. I pay the purse I say I am going to pay. The racers are confident in us.”
Hurley understands what racers go through. He has owned race cars, too.
“Racers know I always try to do what is right for them,” Hurley said. “I’m a race car guy, not a promoter, per se. That helps.”
The 134 cars wasn’t among countless divisions. Hurley said he had 38 modifieds, 34 super late models, 32 sport mods and 30 sport compacts.
“We had to have B-mains for every class,” Hurley said. “West Virginia is full of die-hard race fans, and we had what they wanted to see — great racing on our new 3/8-mile oval.”
Mike said he and his wife, Becky, put all the money they earn at WVMS and Elkins Speedway back into the tracks. For example, they’re installing a 5,000-seat grandstand at West Virginia Motor Speedway on the backstretch to accommodate more fans. Furthermore, they’re paving a midway for merchandise trailers and adding TVs featuring coverage of the racing in the concession areas. Expect to see those improvements debut when WVMS hosts its next race, a $10,000-to-win Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series race on May 3.
“Me and Becky own our tracks,” Hurley said. “Many race promoters don’t own the tracks they are promoting. We care about the well-being of our tracks. We are looking to be at our 12,000 capacity every time the gate opens — we have that goal in mind in everything we do.”
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.
