DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — For Ace Speedway, it was a practically a standing room only crowd. For Lonesome Pines Speedway, it was an overfilled pits and one of the best crowds since the mid 90's. And for Orange Show Speedway, they are seeing bigger car counts along with some of the best racing ever.
These are just a few examples of ASA Member Tracks who got their 2010 season off to a great start and hope that its a momentum builder for the rest of the year.
"We had a great opening night," Harold Crook, Promoter of Lonesome Pines Raceway, an ASA Member Track in Coeburn, VA said. "Our pits were overflowed and the crowd was awesome. It was one of our best openers since the mid 90's."
Lonesome Pines had 84 cars in the pits for its six divisions that raced this past Saturday night.
Ace Speedway, an ASA Member Track in Elon, NC, had a packed grandstand for its season opener two weeks ago. This past Friday night, they still had a strong grandstand crowd even though the weather was not that cooperative. "It was a cool night for us, but we still had about 1,800 fans in the stands who braved the weather," Brad Allen, Ace Speedway General Manager said. "We had a Ladies Night where they got in for $1 and now we will see if that generated some new fans and hope they come back next week."
"We are seeing more cars than we have seen in the past and the racing has been great," Rick McCray, Promoter at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track in San Bernardino, CA said. "We increased our inverts for our feature races and the racing has been incredible. We are getting phone calls from competitors who are interested to come and race with us. We could see our car counts increase even more."
Over the next few weeks, more ASA Member Tracks and sanctioned series will have their 2010 season openers. And so far they are encouraged by the news of how well the other tracks have started out their 2010 season giving a hopeful sign that short tracks will be a popular place to be this summer.
The enthusiasm for short track racing is gaining as families realize that each ASA Member Track provides great entertainment that they can enjoy together, and create a great family bonding. And that bonding can go even further, as it can either be in the grandstands or in the pits as they work on a car or race team together.
A local driver becomes a hero in the mind of a youngster as they venture into the pits after the races and see the cars up close, meet the driver behind the wheel and take home that sought after autograph. Those local drivers become household names like the big stars they see on television.
The ASA Member Tracks are already showing this or are about ready to show it to their local fans. Each have a great season planned with a price that is within everyone's budget.
"Our ASA Member Tracks provide a great venue for families to do an activity together," Dennis Huth, ASA President said. "It's encouraging when we talk to our Member Tracks and Series that they had a great opening night and they are always thinking of what they have to do to make every event be like their opening night. Many have great weekly promotions and special events. I will guarantee you that you will not see the same thing every week. If you miss one night, you could miss something special."
The ASA Member Track program is comprised of dirt and asphalt short tracks along with road courses around the United States, as well as a variety of regional and national touring series. For more information, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from all the racetracks and tours involved in the ASA, visit www.ASA-Racing.com.
