Moonshine Capital Promotions (MCP) will once again be leasing Franklin County Speedway (FCS) for the 2017 season.
MCP which is operated by Langley and Kimberly Austin has been the driving force behind a resurgence for the 48 year old Callaway, VA facility over the course of the last few years. The Austin’s operated the track in 2013 and for much of the 2014 season and again returned in 2016. Under their guidance the tracks car counts, fan counts have been surging and the appearance of the facility has been upgraded in many areas.
The Austin’s plan to continue to work on the facility while the car counts look to flourish during the 2017 campaign.
“2017 looks really promising,” said track promoter Langley Austin. “We’re working really hard right now putting the finishing touches on a schedule that will be the most comprehensive the track has ever had. We’re also looking at any and every place at the track where we feel we’re lacking or we’re behind other facilities.”
Austin knows the challenges the facility has.
“Obviously it’s a 48 year old facility and upgrades haven’t come as often as they might could have over the years, so we’re fighting an uphill battle but we’re always looking to make the experience at Franklin County Speedway better. We have many areas we’re looking to improve this year including repairing or replacing the scoreboard, repairing places in the bleachers and on the asphalt of the track surface, pit road and entrance road.”
The 2016 season at Franklin County Speedway was one of growth and learning for the sixth year promoter.
“Every race, every season you learn something new in this position,” continued Austin. “You never know it all and you can never have seen it all. We had a great 2016 season where we grew the car counts back to steady level with many local racers getting back involved in racing for the first time in years. We grew the fan counts to a great level with three of the last four events during the regular season having some of the biggest crowds in years.”
Austin feels as if the track is coming back to life after a couple of decades of decline.
“Sometimes things get stale. You know it’s hard to keep something going for 48 years without having struggles and down times. Last year proved we’re on the uptick. We used the slogan last year “Make FCS Great Again” and we are. It’s coming back stronger than it has in 20 or more years. This season is going to put FCS back on the map in a big way. Just the events on the holiday weekends will have fans all across the region coming back here to see just what we have going on while most other tracks are shut down for the holiday.”
While the season opening date hasn’t been set in stone Austin says it’ll probably be in mid to early March. Racing will continue to be ran on an every other week schedule more or less with focus on holiday events and two big November shows to finish the season.
“We’ve got a lot going on, 2017 is going to be the year everyone talks about what FCS is doing. We have two 602 Tour dates for the Super Limiteds, we’re bringing back the Tour Modifieds in a big way. We’re working on securing a Southern Modified Racing Series date and we’ll be running the Modifieds at least three or more times during the season. Modifieds are still really popular in this region and we need to have those cars on the track during the season to really bring back the old fan base that’s found other things to do on the weekends in recent years.”
FCS has also reached out to NASCAR in hopes of becoming a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series sanctioned track for the 2017 season.
“We’ve reached out to NASCAR. That’s where it’s at right now. Will we be sanctioned? I don’t know at this point but we’ve reached out and we think that potentially racing on a day that not every track in the region is racing on and being another track that local racers can gain points at could be really beneficial. Not only for us but for the racers, other tracks in the region and the fans. This could be a big deal for everyone but whether we are or not, this is going to be the biggest season in Franklin County Speedway’s history.”
As you can tell there’s a lot of stirring in Callaway, VA this winter as Moonshine Capital Promotions prepares for a big season at Franklin County Speedway. The date of the season opener will be announced in the coming days and a full schedule is expected to be out soon. The 2017 Rules Meeting for competitors will be held on Saturday January 7th at 12noon and rules will be in place and posted on the tracks website within a few days of the meeting.
