1 on 1 with Randy Maggio, Jr.

Welcome to the hot seat, Randy we are glad you could join us

What are your plans for 2025 at both tracks?

• We have a TON of plans for 2025 between both tracks, it’s hard to really pin down just a few! The biggest news really is moving the Jackpot and Trident at Lorain into two day shows. I think that helps turn the race into an event exponentially. We are continuing our 15 and under in the main grandstands for free which we saw great growth and opportunity last year with that deal. We will again be hosting a Military Appreciation Night and First Responders Night at Painesville. The Zac Brunkala Memorial and Burnout Competition at Painesville in August. Hall of Fame Night’s at both tracks. Painesville has a Throwback Night. The Ohio Wheelman Series once again calls #2Tracks1Family home with four events at Lorain and two at Painesville. The list goes on!

What are the challenges facing short track racing in Northeast Ohio today?

• The biggest challenge in short track racing I feel is prices all around. Racers are burdened by heavy prices with parts, tires, fuel, etc while Race Tracks are burdened by prices such as food, insurance, electric bills and so on. The hard part is, we’re all at a crossroads. We all are affected by it, all racers all across the country.

What do you think your tracks do better than others in regards to the entertainment aspect?

• All tracks have great aspects to them, we all do different things real well. I think we do a great job with getting kids involved in our sport and welcoming people in like family. Between events like Ride in a Racecar, Autograph Night, Kid’s Bike Races, Shopping Cart Races and more it is a great gateway to allow kids to interact with officials and racers. We try to help everybody feel welcomed at our tracks and more times than not, go out of our way to make sure everyone is enjoying themselves throughout events. 

With the creation of Northeast Ohio Racing Association for 2025, what kind of changes should we expect to see at your two tracks?

• There will be price changes along with the NORA Memberships. Members will be getting $5 breaks off pit passes and transponders along with $50 breaks per hour for track rentals. We will be doing contests each week for free pit passes as well to give back to those who are supporting our facilities with the memberships.

You just acquired the former CRS Truck Series and have relaunched as the Great Lakes Truck Tour, how did that deal come about?  

• I brought the idea up to Billy Strehle maybe mid summer last year about being interested in taking over the series. Once it became sort of an option in the beginning of this offseason I brought up the idea to my Dad and he was all for it. My Dad loves those trucks so much, he really always has, so he was on board right away. We weren’t able to come to an agreement when we wanted to in October/November, but when Billy reached back out a few weeks ago it was really full steam ahead to get moving!

That came together kind of late in the off season, realistically what are your goals for the Great Lakes Truck Tour in 2025?

• The deal to acquire the truck series definitely came together later than what we would have liked, however, we are excited to make the most of it this season! My realistic overall goal is to run clean, efficient programs that drivers, teams and local fans enjoy. Stay organized and have a Points Fund for this season, which the trucks have not had in recent years. I would like to average 12 trucks per race. That may not seem like a lot, but I think if we can get consistent this season, we can carry that momentum into 2026.

Looking at the future, where do you see the Great Lakes Truck Tour heading in the future, is there a track that you’d like to see them at?

• I truly do believe the Great Lakes Truck Tour has a bright future ahead. In the past few days we have had great momentum surrounding the tour between conversations with drivers, teams and partners. We have even had several new teams inquiring about getting involved already!

You put out a pretty serious sounding message to the drivers & fans last fall about the future of both tracks, has there been any developments during the offseason since that message went out?

• I wouldn’t say any “developments” so to speak. That post was a tough one to write, but everything I mentioned in there was from the heart and truthful. Bottom line is it takes money, no one in this life can lose five figures and continue on like normal. We have had lots of hard hits with ideas that did not work out in the past, we keep truckin’. But there comes a time where there needs to be a line drawn

Is there anything that drivers or fans can do to help both tracks succeed?

• A simple share on social media does wonders. A simple post on social media does wonders. A simple conversation with your local barber or someone at the grocery store does wonders. Spreading the word is HUGE. We have tons of drivers willing to help pass out flyers, post schedules, etc and it does not go unnoticed. If everyone brings someone new each event, our stands would be packed. Now imagine if we leave a good impression on half of those people and they become regulars, or even just come to half the shows a year…. It’s a domino effect! We can make it happen, TOGETHER!  

You’ve added a series of Enduro races at Painesville and have announced intentions of hosting one at Lorain this fall, what made you go all in on the Enduros?

• The Turkey Leg always draws me in… Having 70+ front wheel drive enduro cars ripping around Painesville gets me blood pumping. I hope the enduro series takes off and we can have 50 some there each event. Enduros at Painesville is so action packed it really is cool to be apart of! I hope the momentum carries over to Lorain and we can get a good car count and show there

We see you doing things with the communities around Painesville and several local businesses have joined the family at Painesville as sponsors, are there any plans to do something similar at Lorain?  

• We are definitely in the community more at Painesville than Lorain. I feel that contributes to racers being in a smaller radius of Painesville than they are Lorain. It’s something that is a goal to get more involved at Lorain, we already do car shows in Amherst from time to time and such, parades are definitely on the docket for this season! 

On the flip side, you brought the NASCAR Youth Series Quarter Midgets to Lorain, more specifically “Little Lorain”, do you have plans to build a purpose built track for them and could you expand to Painesville to bring the eastsiders into that style of racing?

• I don’t think building a purpose built track for Quarter Midgets is in the budget right now. It would definitely be something cool to do! We would love to expand to Painesville and have had talks about doing a race or two there, but Quarter Midget schedules are so packed it’s tough to find a suitable date. We really would like to expand Little Lorain into having regional events such as Midwest Thunder, Quad Cities, etc. 

You joined forces with Sandusky Speedway to create four alliance divisions, how did that come to be and what are your plans with it to make the most of the opportunity to work with them?

• Kevin Sr and Jr and I have always gotten along decently well. Once Rich Lushes became involved at Sandusky he had instantly wanted to work together. We had a meeting or two, hit it off and have been good friends since! We talk quite a bit about schedules, rules and such and our ideas really align with each other so it works well! 

Could the Modified division be a part of future plans between your two tracks and Sandusky?  

• Yes absolutely! 

You have a great team behind you at both tracks, who is the driving force behind you and helping you make decisions for both tracks?  

• My Dad and I communicate a ton about decisions for the race tracks. Granted, our communication may not always be positive and our personalities clash at times…. But between my mom, dad and I we are the overall decision makers 

Financially, I think everyone knows race tracks are struggling to put fans in the stands and cars on the track, how do you work toward bringing new fans to your tracks and new drivers and cars to compete?  

• Being involved in the community I believe is the biggest part of getting new fans in the stands. Going to parades, passing out flyers at events/local businesses, etc. New drivers and cars I believe goes hand in hand with community involvement, Little Lorain definitely helps with getting new cars as that’s a great feeder of young talent into our big track divisions 

Both tracks have a Hall of Fame now and there have been many people wanting to know if there’s a plan for any kind of physical building to house the Hall of Fame at each track?  Short term and long term what are your goals for each of these?  How do you manage to keep each class exciting and connect today’s fans with the history of each track?  

• The plan is to absolutely have a physical building to house the Hall of Fame at Lorain. Painesville I believe the shadow box deal is the best route due to limited space. We are fortunate enough to have great Hall of Fame boards including the driving forces behind each in Craig Brackman at Painesville and Jim Foose Jr at Lorain. 

We wish Randy the best of luck this year as he embarks on a season full of racing and new challenges.