For the last 20 years local short tracks have had a problem bigger than any other, the grandstands aren’t full. Why aren’t people coming, what happened to the big crowds of yesteryear and how do tracks bring new fans to the track?
About 20 years ago a big issue developed in the grandstands at short tracks across the country, the fans weren’t coming to the track. We’ve heard many different factors that keep people away such as “There’s no cars”, “Our kids got into other sports” and “The facilities are dated”. All of which are valid reasons, but these tracks, designed to fit approximately 1,000-3,000 fans, are sitting mostly empty on Saturday nights.
Lorain Raceway Park went through a few tough years. A series of leases and a failed sale left Lorain idle for most of 2019. That’s when the current owners, Denise and Randy Maggio, stepped up to purchase the track and bring it back. The racing returned, the excitement returned but the fans have not. Over the past five seasons, Lorain has seen its share of racing but still bears the question from locals “Is that place open?”. Denise and Randy’s son, Randy, Jr. has promoted the track and the family’s other race track, The Painesville Speedway and has brought a new age advertising plan to the track, which saw an increase in fan count in 2024 over prior years but still fell short of filling the grandstands.
For 2025, Maggio is bringing more fan focused events to Lorain including Autograph Night, more kid’s activities and a more diverse schedule. Lorain’s focus on being a family destination could pay off as more kids put down the iPads and Xbox controllers and come out to the race track to see auto racing. The more interactive and entertaining the program is, the more families will return to the race track. Families will find the cost to attend a 3 hour program at Lorain Raceway Park or The Painesville Speedway including a meal from the track concession stand costs less than ticket prices to a movie at the movie theatre or Cedar Point.
One thing plaguing local tracks is the long nights and long breaks in the action, a short intermission is great but anything longer than 15 minutes feels like an eternity for fans sitting on metal bleachers. Keeping the action going or bringing the entertainment to the fans during the down time is the key to keeping the fans coming back. We’ve seen tracks play kids dance songs during intermission just to pass the time. Getting the crowd to do “the wave” or dancing to the Gummy Bear Song keeps the kids interested and allows them to burn off energy,and gives the parents a chance to unwind a bit. One thing that’s a sure thing: any race program that passes 11PM is losing fans’ interest. They begin to leave and many won’t return.
Timed Races are the key to keeping the program under three hours. No race at any short track should last more minutes than laps (not counting red flags). For heat races, which are usually eight laps, an 8 minute limit on each heat is a must. For feature events, time limits should be set at one minute per lap plus five. Special Events excluded from the time limit. Things out of the drivers’ control like fence repairs, oil cleanups and the like should not count towards the time limit but rather fall under a red flag. Pace Laps are another time killer, one feature event this past season ran 12 pace laps before the green flag. On cold days, getting heat into the tires is important but even NASCAR still only gives drivers three to five pace laps to get heat into their tires.
Car counts certainly aren’t growing, there’s fewer cars racing in less divisions than years past. The Lorain/Sandusky Alliance should help to grow the four divisions that are officially part of that collaboration and the Modifieds will race at Sandusky six times in 2025 adding to the six race Modified schedule for Lorain. Costs have skyrocketed in the past ten years and simply the increased purses have not kept up. But it’s a never ending cycle where a higher purse requires more tickets to be sold to make the track financially stable. The other option for tracks is to raise ticket prices, which decreases fan count in the long run. It’s a battle that every track faces each time they open the gates.
You can have the weather work out right, the cars and still not get the fans to come out.
On a sunny & warm weekend in June, the Super Crown Nationals at Lorain Raceway Park featuring the ISMA/MSS Supermodifieds fell well short of a “packed house”, enough to keep the Maggio family from bringing back the ISMA/MSS Supermodifieds for 2025. Even this year’s Hy-Miler Nationals drew a slightly smaller crowd than usual, there was a time not many years ago where if you weren’t at the track by 4:00 on Saturday, you were parking across Perkins Ave at the shopping center, in 2024 the grandstands filled up as race time rolled around. Fans were treated to a thriller Friday night and then saw pure domination on Saturday night as Otto Sitterly dominated the 100 lap feature. Still, the Hy-Miler Nationals is a tradition for many and a prestigious supermodified race.
Sandusky has brought in Rich Lushes to bring the track back to the glory days. Rich has already been working on bringing Sandusky Speedway back to it’s former glory, he and his team worked on the Bev Jaycox Cavalcade, an event that saw 10 year highs for car count and a new excitement for the track as Lushes works towards his first full season in 2025. The 2025 Sandusky Speedway Schedule features a refreshed line-up, gone are the weekly $1 admission nights, replaced by a regular schedule of racing that features Modifieds, Grand Nationals, Factory Stocks, Warrior Compacts and special shows featuring the Ohio Wheelman Super Stock Series, Ohio Pro Compacts, Outlaw 350 Supermodified Sprint Series, and CRS Truck Series. Sandusky will be streamed live on Racing America for the Hy-Miler Nationals Speedweek, bringing the track’s biggest event to a new audience for 2025.
Local short-track racing is at a crossroads, with an aging fan base and car count dwindling across the country, the local tracks have to get creative to get new fans in the stands and bring the next generation of racers to the pit area. What the future will look like is the great unknown. So be sure to get out and support your local track, dirt or asphalt, keep your harsh opinions to yourself, and tell all your friends, neighbors, and co-workers where they can find affordable family; the local short track.
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