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closeCrowds drawn to the action at East Lincoln
Speedway says its attendance figures are up 10% from last year amid higher fuel costs.
By Matt Kline
Special Correspondent
Sunday, Jun. 22, 2008
Just because the NASCAR stars are gone until October doesn't mean that local race fans have to wait to watch racing.
In Denver, the East Lincoln Speedway racing season is in full swing and, despite a struggling economy, fans are flocking to the dirt track.
East Lincoln has seven racing divisions, headlined by the Open Wheel Modified and Late Model Modified Sportsman divisions. Track director of promotions Terry Brotherton says that attendance is up by 10 percent over last season. “Local fans may not be traveling as far as in the past because of gas prices, but they're coming out here on Saturdays.”
One major reason for the strong turnout is the many options the track offers.
Every scheduled session has a theme, and many of them are targeted toward kids, who get in free if they are under 10.
Bicycle races, training wheel races and tire rolling competitions are just some of the extra benefits offered to kids, in addition to watching the racing.
“I think you'll see that we have more kids coming here than any other track within 75 miles of Charlotte,” Brotherton said. “If you create something that a child wants to do, the parents will bring them and that's what we're seeing.”
Another point of emphasis for the leaders of East Lincoln Speedway is eliminating down time. With six or seven sets of racing plus promotional events in between, it would be easy for a night that begins at 7 p.m. to run past midnight.
But Brotherton said the average program finished at 10:23 p.m. last season. This season they are slightly ahead of that.
“Our staff is very good, they understand our goals and they all hustle,” Brotherton said.
For more information and tickets, go to www.eastlincolnspeedway.com, or call 704-263-5347.