HARRISBURG, N.C. — As the caretakers of Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, track owner Tony Stewart and promoter and general manager Roger Slack are required to walk a fine line.
They must constantly update the facility with the modern amenities demanded by today’s sports fans, while also maintaining the rich and storied history of a race track that pre-dates roll cages on sprint cars.
During a recent interview for a profile story that appears elsewhere in these pages, Slack, the 2019 Auto Racing Promoter of the Year, talked about that balancing act and also looked into his crystal ball in anticipation of topics that will impact the short-track industry moving forward.
“Whenever we look at improving the facility or tweaking an event, we have to consider our core fans who have been coming here for years and are very traditional. They are used to things being a certain way,” Slack explained. “We’ve made changes over the years and the World 100 and The Dream each went from a one-day show to a three-day show. At first, you would have thought our entire world was going to crash. But once people went through the whole event and realized how much better it was, they realized what we were doing.
“We were paying the racers more money and we were giving the fans more racing for their dollar while keeping ticket prices low. All of our ticket prices are still the lowest of any of the premier events in the sport and our concession prices are low.”
Stewart has allowed his team to make countless facility improvements since he bought the half-mile dirt track from founder Earl Baltes in 2004.
“Since I came on board in 2011, our focus has been on improving the fan experience, improving access. I call it reducing touch points,” Slack said. “Whether it’s online ticket sales, being able to buy pit passes at every entrance gate or reserved camping, we’ve worked on the things that make it as easy as possible for people to plan in advance and then come and enjoy the event. There’s also the pyro and pomp and circumstance that we’ve added, but it’s all mixed with the tradition that’s been built up here since 1954.
“Then there’s all of the things we’ve done whether it was with the rules, building the infield care center or improving our track services team. A few years ago, we decided to go forward and bite the bullet. We were the first track to mandate head-and-neck restraints, containment seats, intrusions plates, fuel cells, fire systems and on and on. The sport needed all of that but that was a really tough spring to go through because a lot of people thought we would give in, but we held firm and the sport is safer. The cars are safer, not to mention everything we’ve done in making the walls and fencing safer.”
As for the future, Slack said, “I can’t give away all of my secrets, but we are already seeing the impact of streaming on short-track racing. We are also seeing many weekly racers, whether it’s because of their wife, their kids or their budget, they are not able to devote every single weekend to a racing. I think you are going to see more and more tracks go to a special-events schedule and not race weekly.
“Sports gambling is really going to be interesting and how that will impact the short-track industry,” Slack added. “There is also a lot of technology that we as an industry are going to have to get with the program. It doesn’t matter where you go now, we are competing with high-tech, ease-of-use publicly funded facilities, and it seems every city is getting a Major League Soccer franchise.
“Our industry is dealing with facilities that we’ve got to keep nice and clean to make people want to come and enjoy the racing instead of staying home and playing Fortnite for 48 hours.”