2013 Business Class Honoree: Lucas Oil Speedway

There are two primary differences when comparing Lucas Oil Speedway to the major raceways associated with NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series.

The first is size. The three-eighths-mile track in Wheatland is shorter and made of clay, rather than the 1- to 2.5-mile paved concrete monsters of Daytona, Charlotte and Talledega.

The second is sound. A smaller track means closer proximity and the cars – stocks, modifieds, sprints, midgets and demolition derby – are all long on horsepower and light on muffler.

Lucas Oil Speedway hosts weekly events between April and September, drawing spectators from about a two-hour radius. In addition to auto racing, the speedway features Lake Lucas, a mile-long waterway that hosts a dozen drag-boat racing events each year.

The final element in the business mix is the Lucas Oil Midwest Late-model Racing Association, a traveling race series at similar tracks across the Midwest.

General Manager Dan Robinson says his duties – and that of four full- and two part-time year-round staff – are split 50-30-20 between the speedway events, boat races and MLRA work. During race season, the staff roster swells to 45, mostly part-time workers providing food, beverage and other services.   

But racing style is not the speedway’s only difference, Lucas Oil has 21 luxury suites above the grandstand, a high-definition jumbotron, stadium-grade Musco lighting and a Bose public address system. Every detail, Robinson says, was engineered “to look good on television.”

Following format changes on ESPN2 and SpeedTV, which eliminated most motorsports coverage, parent company Lucas Oil Products purchased an existing cable network – MAV-TV – and began building in coverage of its sponsored and speedway-owned events. The network is now carried by national providers Charter, Comcast, Dish, Time-Warner Cable and various regional media providers.

The speedway posted revenue growth hovering around 20 percent annually and a 73 percent staff increase since 2010.

Robinson says the speedway’s premier annual event – the May 25 Show-Me 100 – drew racers and fans from as far away as Florida, Wisconsin and Colorado. Three-time race winner Jimmy Owens collected a $30,000 grand prize against a total $120,000 purse – Missouri’s largest payout, and one of the biggest in the country, Robinson says. The Show-Me 100 is also the only late-model dirt track race shown on network television (scheduled for broadcast June 29 on CBS).[[In-content Ad]]