CALLAWAY, VA :: Franklin County Speedway is hoping to rekindle it’s glory days in the 2013 season. Back in April, Moonshine Capital Promotions, headed by Langley Austin, leased the track from long-time owner Whitey Taylor. Austin already anticipates higher car counts in 2013 and hopes to change the image and appeal to fans, old and new, in the Roanoke region and the New River Valley.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Langley Austin is the owner and webmaster of RACE22.com)
“More than anything, I want to change the image at Franklin County Speedway,” Austin said. “It’s always had an old school appeal and we want to keep that but we also want to get away from that ‘Buck Wild’ image.”
Buck Wild was a reality TV show about Franklin County Speedway produced in recent years under the track’s previous management.
“We want to bring that the good ole’ days. Everybody in this area talks about the good ole’ days and we want to bring those back. We can’t bring those drivers back but we can start our own.”
Austin is confident about the car counts for the season opener on May 11th.
“I think we can realistically get 15 car Late Model fields which is twice what they had last year. I think we can get 10-12 cars in the other divisions. I’m hoping that our 11 race schedule doesn’t step on Motor Mile which is our closest competing track. We don’t step on their races and it offers racers that race there the opportunity to race 11 more times if they want to since they only race seven times at Motor Mile.”
The track is putting focus in to special events on Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and on a few big races at the end of the season.
“We’re putting a lot of focus in on our holiday races. Those are our marquee events. We also hope to put together some big races at the end of the year with the Moonshine Classic and the Bullring Battle. We hope that will bring in more cars for people who don’t have the opportunity to race there.”
Austin says the key is taking an approach that makes the racing affordable for racers and putting on a good show for the fans.
“We’re taking an old school, affordable approach. We’ll have the most affordable racing program anywhere. It won’t cost an arm and a leg to race with us and more racers can come afford to race with us than anywhere else.”
Austin said the racing at Franklin County Speedway is second to none.
“I think when people refer to the good ole’ days, they think of the infield overflowing with cars and having to get there early for seats and seeing races that’s better than anywhere else. Franklin County Speedway has the best racing you will see anywhere in this area because the track creates good racing. You can have two cars at Franklin County and the race will be exciting if they’re anywhere similar in speed. “
As the name “Moonshine Capital Promotions” suggests, Austin intends to embrace Franklin County’s status as the “Moonshine Capital of the World”. Auto racing got its roots from moonshine runners outrunning the law. The moonshine culture, in recent years, has been boosted by shows like Discovery Channel’s “Moonshiners” and the popularity of the Matt Bondurant novel “The Wettest County in the World” and the film adaption of the book, “Lawless”.
“At one time, the track was known at the Moonshine Capital of the World because Franklin County is,” Austin explained. “They made’ Lawless’ about Franklin County. At one time, everyone knew it as the Moonshine Capital of the World and there was a time the county didn’t like but now the county has embraced that they’re the Moonshine Capital of the World and they embrace the tourism dollars.”
When asked if he thought embracing the moonshine culture would be too controversial, Austin pointed out that controversy is something he intends to embrace.
“Let’s be honest, racetracks that are completely and totally politically correct and, if don’t have something interesting going on like the moonshine or whatever, they’re failing. For example, Bowman Gray Stadium, every track wants to be like Bowman Gray whether they admit it or not. You can go to Bowman Gray and get sponsors unlike anywhere in racing and we want to return that to Franklin County because that’s how it used to be.
“The ‘Buck Wild’ image was intentionally tearing up cars and wasn’t racing at all. That’s not what we want. We want to return to good hard, beating and banging racing but not people taking people out intentionally. Everyone hears Moonshine, they know what it is, and they know Franklin County is the place to get it. I think we want them to not think about moonshine but the place to come to racing. There’s no better track anywhere. I don’t have to do extra promoting. That track develops its own image and I think it appeals to old school fans because moonshine was prevalent back then. There was a moonshine bust in Franklin County yesterday and they didn’t know it was still made when in fact it’s still very prevalent. There’s illegal moonshine being made everywhere. It also appeals to the new generation because of reality shows like Moonshiners. It’s a hit culture type thing.”
With a new season on the horizon, Austin hopes the new era at Franklin County Speedway is a successful one. Saturday’s race will be the first race under Moonshine Capital Promotions management and the first race of the season.
