CONCORD, N.C. — The IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s is one of the largest grassroots racing events held annually in the United States.
Taking place every September at IMCA’s home track, Iowa’s Boone Speedway, the event typically draws hundreds of local racers from across the country to compete for championships in six divisions.
In advance of the 2020 edition of the Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s, SPEED SPORT sat down with IMCA President Brett Root to discuss the IMCA Super Nationals and how the event will change amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
This is part three of SPEED SPORT’s conversation with Root. Click here to read part one. Click here to read part two.
All six nights of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s will be broadcast live via SPEED SPORT TV affiliate IMCA.TV beginning on Sept. 7 and running through Sept. 12.
SPEED SPORT: How has COVID-19 altered plans for this year’s IMCA Super Nationals?
Root: We’re doing everything we can so we can have a safe race and we can do so responsibly and still meet, essentially, what we think the goals of this event are. Any expectations that I think a lot of people have for the event, to be able to meet those standards, it’s a very challenging set of circumstances. We have some advantages, I think, from a sporting standpoint. Our competitors are not in close contact with each other. Our competitors are wearing helmets and usually wear fire retardant face masks anyhow. From a competitor side of things, we just don’t have the same dynamics that other contact sports do, like football, basketball and baseball. So from that standpoint, we can reasonably address what we need to address.
You get into the issue of fans, pit areas, gathering points and things like that becoming much more on the table for discussion than they have been in the past. They have their pit stall, things like that. You know, the on-track stuff to me, I think from a competitor standpoint, COVID-19 is probably the last thing from their mind. Off the race track when they’re in their pit areas, when they’re around other race teams and things like that, that’s when it needs to be addressed and we’re doing our best to address that standpoint from points of contact, where they sign in, how they sign in, what we need them to do from a registration standpoint and all of the pre-race stuff that gets us to the actual racing. We’re doing our best to eliminate anything that’s not necessary.
The showmanship of the event is going to be impacted by how we’ve adjusted or we plan to adjust. At the end of the day, it’s about the racing. For us, we’re going to get rid of anything that doesn’t really necessarily need to be done outside of the race itself. We’re going to do our best to adjust, and we have been adjusting. We’ve been following the state proclamations, as most of our race tracks have been through this whole summer of COVID-19. We have some race tracks that are in states where they’re not able to operate and some race tracks that are in states that are very loose on their restrictions. For us, no two race tracks are exactly the same. No two states are exactly the same. So we’re just trying to take what we know from the state of Iowa proclamations, where Boone Speedway is located and follow them.
SPEED SPORT: Why is it important to move forward with the IMCA Super Nationals in the face of COVID-19?
Root: That’s a really good question. Obviously, we think we can do it responsibly in and our racers think that it can be done responsibly. Nobody has to come to this race. Nobody has to participate. Nobody has to be a fan. It’s one of personal choice. We get asked on a daily basis, ‘Is the event canceled?’ Obviously, it hasn’t been. Now if we didn’t have anybody registering for the event, if there was no interest in the event, we could understand, but as of today (Aug. 24), there are almost 700 race cars pre-entered for this race.
But most of the time racers don’t pre-register for an event they don’t plan on coming to. It sure appears to us that there are going to be a fair amount of competitors, an amount that we’re fairly accustomed to in a normal season that are prepared to come, even given the circumstances. They have expectations of us. Obviously, we have event expectations. I think, at times, we’re going to have to adjust and we’re planning to adjust in ways that maybe I think the racers may be disappointed about. But, you know, I think they understand. I think at the end of the day, they think they can compete. Many of them are competing anyhow at their local race track and are doing so, I think, responsibly. I think they feel like they can do so at this event as well. That’s kind of the approach we’re taking too.
SPEED SPORT: How can fans watch the IMCA Super Nationals from home if they are unable to attend?
Root: Well, we broadcast this event live on IMCA.TV. They’ll have a variety of options. They can watch on a daily pay-per-view pass, or we actually offer a discounted package for the week. That’s going to include even the prelude on Saturday night (Sept. 5) at Boone Speedway, which technically is not part of the Super Nationals itself. There are going to be plenty of opportunity for those who can’t make it. We’ve been streaming this event probably as long as anybody in the industry. Streaming aspects have changed quite a bit over the last handful of years, and we’ve been streaming this event for quite a few years.
Again, a lot of our race teams come from long distances for an event like this. You know, they don’t just come from Iowa. They come from across state borders and stuff like that. So not all of them can bring their entire family, not all of them can bring their entire race team, all of their sponsors, all of their fans. The streaming aspect of this event is a really good way for a local racer from a different state to get some exposure for himself, for his race team, for his race fans and whatnot on a national scale. It’s always good to see the different places that people watch from — both within the United States and internationally.
SPEED SPORT: SPEED SPORT is partnering with IMCA to broadcast several features from the IMCA Super Nationals on MAVTV. What does that extra visibility mean for IMCA and its racers?
Root: I think SPEED SPORT has, obviously, been in this industry long enough that it brings a great deal of credibility to the event and to our competitors. I think it puts our racers in a little different light and makes them a little bit more important. Most of our racers are not professional racers. They’re hobby racers. They do this for fun, and they have full-time jobs. A lot of times I think they get in this industry, generally from a pecking order standpoint to a certain extent, they don’t get as much credit as the professional leagues do, or the professional racers that are competing in some of those leagues.
I think most of our competitors are perfectly fine with that. They understand that, but they still are very, very talented racers that put on very entertaining events that, in my opinion, any dirt-track race fan is going to find pretty appealing. So it gives them some credibility that I think is well-deserved by having a company as important as SPEED SPORT covering the event.