FAIRLAWN, VA :: Rain may have forced Motor Mile to postpone their season opener on April 27th but it didn’t dampen expectations for the season. Motor Mile Speedway is running a reduced schedule and has teamed up with Southern National Motorsports Park for the Dirty Dozen Series. With the track still waiting to open the gates and host its first race of the season, the track has strong expectations about the year ahead.
JW Martin, director of public relations at Motor Mile Speedway, said the track is optimistic about the season and the Dirty Dozen.
“The Dirty Dozen benefits everyone,” Martin said. “For fans, they see cars they might not see. For drivers, there’s extra money and extra incentive for travel. For tracks, it boosts car counts. They’re getting more cars at their track in Southern National that wouldn’t otherwise be there. All parties benefit.”
Martin said the track would like to work with other tracks in the future. As for this year’s schedule, he said the track put it together “in house” but that they are satisfied they aren’t conflicting with other tracks this season.
“I can’t speak for any other racetrack but the way we have set up has been in house. We don’t consult with other tracks to see what they’re going to be. The way we did it this year was about the same. We throw darts at the calendar based on what community activities are going on in Radford and Blacksburg. We set up our schedule independent of everyone else and it just so happened that we were not conflicting.
“We’ve tried to work with other racetracks. SNMP is a good example of that. We’re trying to reach out. Tracks still want to do their own thing though. We’re not there with everyone sitting together at a table and swapping dates. We are thrilled we’re not on top of anybody else and we’ll see higher car counts because of that.”
Martin said Motor Mile Speedway took a lot in to consideration when cutting their schedule to six races.
“We looked at everything from a financial standpoint to our anniversary and wanting to do something different – ultimately it came down to what would work best for Motor Mile Speedway,” Martin explained. “We came up with something exciting, new, different and cutting edge. I think other tracks will look to Motor Mile at the end of the year and evaluate how our program went and they might want to implement it in the future. We’re also running twin 125s all year. The possibility for damage increases in twin races. The turnaround time for the drivers, if they were in an unfortunate situation, is a benefit. It’s a money saver for the support divisions, Late Model guys and the race fans. We have fans that travel great distances. There are a lot of positives and we don’t feel there are negatives with what we’ve come up with.”
Martin feels it’s too early to tell how the schedule changes and the Dirty Dozen deal will work out in the end.
“I think it’s too early to tell by the end of the year we’ll see the success of our program. Hopefully, in the future, there will be more cooperation between tracks. We’re optimistic next year will be better than this year. This year, looking at it, everyone’s looking at this year different from any other year. We’re on new territory. There’s reason to be excited. If all goes well, we’ve got high car counts and fan turnouts, certainly that should raise eyebrows with other tracks.
“My personal opinion, I believe that it’s exciting that we have guys that are quite competitive. If they choose to travel, with the way our schedule is, we could have a track champion at Motor Mile, South Boston and Franklin County. For the drivers, that should be exciting. That hasn’t happened in the past. You’re either committed to Motor Mile or South Boston. For the support guys, because of the short schedule here, they can go to other racetracks as well.
Martin also feels the Dirty Dozen will bring more talent to the track and a better class of drivers that could compete with defending NASCAR Whelen All American Series National Champion Lee Pulliam.
“I think the Dirty Dozen will infuse new talent, mainly, Deac McCaskill. It could be a big factor in these six races. Lee Pulliam will be a favorite but Josh Berry has momentum. Tommy Lemons, Jr., Kris Bowen and a lot of these guys have been up here. I think we’ll have a lot of guys that will be strong out of the gate and contend with Lee Pulliam. If Morris comes back, he’ll be a favorite to win races. We have guys testing here that haven’t been here in a while.
“All six races will be all-star races and it makes it them all can’t miss races. There isn’t a clear favorite.”
Martin also spoke about the dragstrip at Motor Mile Speedway, saying the dragstrip has already seen an increase in fan attendance and that the track, as a whole, is rebounding from the economic downturn that has hit the racing industry over the past several years.
“The Mean 16 (Pro-Mod) is a fan favorite at the dragstrip. I’m not a straight line guy so I can’t comment on that track but, as far as fan support and turnout, we’ve seen a big increase in 2013.
“The industry was in a downturn and everyone’s trying to get out of it. We’re showing a lot of promise and we’re excited about the rebound we’ve made.”
Motor Mile’s first race of the season will be on Saturday, May 18th after the schedule season opener was washed out and postponed.
