LUCAS OIL RENEWS LEASE TO OPERATE THE I 10 SPEEDWAY

Source: Dave Grayson
Date: 11/28/2006

On the evening of November 25th a SRO crowd converged at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway, a quarter mile paved oval located at the Colorado River Fairgrounds in the community of Blythe-California. They came in layers of clothing and wrapped themselves in blankets to fend off the chilly evening temperature. They are the loyal racing fans who each and every year supports the speedway's Winter Blast Racing Series. But on this particular evening there was a slight feeling of apprehension in the air. There was an awareness that this particular evening was the final day of the Lucas Oil lease to operate the speedway and many were wondering if there was a for future stock car racing in Blythe. Greg Scheidecker, a representative for the Lucas Oil Special Events Division as well as the I 10 Speedway Race Director, made very quick work in alleviating any concern the racing fans may have had that evening. When he announced that Lucas Oil had renewed their lease to operate the speedway for another five years the roar of approval from the capacity crowd was likely heard all the way to downtown Blythe. After the race that evening Scheidecker commented on the new lease agreement and said "we sat down and spoke with the City Council, the local Chamber of Commerce and obviously the Fair Board of Directors and told them what our intent was. They were very gracious in extending our lease here for another five years. The city is stepping up and we have some plans for some additional grandstands and so forth. In this day and age for a race track to be adding grandstands is a big deal, it's a huge thing." Many racing fans are well aware that Lucas Oil has enjoyed a long and rich history with motorsports. Over the years the company has been directly involved in the American racing industry through multiple vehicle sponsorships and racing event promotions in every form of motorsports that you could name. It was the perfect format for them to promote their premium line of oils, greases and problem solving additives. But the company decision to actually lease and operate a race track lifted more than a few eyebrows and rasied questions such as why would they do that and wouldn't it be easier and more economical to just simply sponsor the racing program at the I-10? At the end of last year's Winter Blast Series, Greg Scheidecker addressed those questions and said it was generally known that company founder Forrest Lucas wanted to own a state of art motorsports facility. It was also felt that education was a key element in this process. "We needed to learn more about the inner workings of what it takes to promote a race," he said adding "so we took into consideration several different factors: we're in California, that's a factor. We also took into consideration that if we just built another race track then we would have to compete with established facilities such as Orange Show, Irwindale and Oildale. Lucas Oil's philosophy was let's do something just the opposite of what everyone else is doing and use it as a learning curve, use it as an opportunity to learn the inner workings of what it takes to operate a race track because there are so many factors." That philosophy led to Lucas Oil's decision to sign its first lease to operate the I 10 Speedway and to return stock car racing to Blythe at a facility that had virtually been abandoned in the years past. The philosophy of doing the opposite of others led to the creation of the highly successful Winter Blast Series and its Saturday night events, held from October to March, at a point in time when many other race tracks were closing its gates for the year. The very same level of hard work and innovative thinking that created Lucas Oil in 1989, combined with the lessons from the Blythe learning curve, led Forrest Lucas to purchase a late model touring series in the southeast and his own race track in Wheatland, Mosourri last year. Scheidecker was dispatched to both locations to share information on the rigors of racing administration learned from the I 10 Speedway experiment. The end result was the fact that the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has become one of the most prestigious short track racing series in the country and can now be seen on a weekly basis, nationwide, on the ESPN network. The newly acquired track in Wheaton also is reported to be doing very well and producing high quality racing shows worthy of its company's name. To think that all of this began with a rather offbeat idea of leasing a race track in Blythe-California makes this story even more unique. While Lucas Oil had a strong racing agenda, they also made a strong commitment to their second home in Blythe. The Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway receives tremendous support from local government officials such as the Colorado River Fair Board and the City of Blythe. The Saturday night races alone brings in a lot of teams and fans from out of town. That translates into tourism dollars for the local community from visitors who rent motel rooms, dine at local restaurants, shop at local retail facilities and spend extra time in the community to enjoy its many other recreational opportunities such as the nearby Colorado River. The Lucas Oil commitment to the community was greatly enhanced this past October with the ribbon cutting for the new Technology Building at the Palo Verde College's Blythe campus. Part of this facility will be the new home of the Palo Verde College-Lucas Oil Automotive Technology Program. Scheidecker was extremly excited about the new center and said "this is all brand new with state of the art equipment and it's just a phenominal building. It has facilities for everything including a fabrication shop, welding shop and everything from engines to brakes. It's really going to be an educational center in southern California. We had an opportunity to meet with them and Lucas Oil came aboard with the project. In the near future we'll be providing some scholarships. Also all of the lubrication needs, for both the center as well as the school itself, will be Lucas Oil products provided at no charge to the school." At this point in time many California race track owners and promoters will be spending their winter off time trying to devise ways, and special events, to fill up some of the empty grandstand seats that are beginning to worry them. Meanwhile Greg Scheidedker and company will be spending their off time, this summer, installing new grandstands to meet the growing needs of their fans. That alone speaks volumes about the success of the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway.

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