New owners cast vision for Branson, Bolivar motorsports events

New owners are working to inject new life into two area entities tied to motorsports.

Springfield businessman Bob Nelson, owner of Greene County Damaged Freight, purchased Bolivar Speedway at a January foreclosure sale on the Polk County Courthouse steps. He said he hopes to bring special event racing back to the track that hosted weekly racing events in its heyday during the 1960s and ’70s.

Steve Wood, owner of Branson-based Tri-Lakes Petroleum Inc. and the Branson Outback Complex, last summer bought the rights to the Branson Motorcycle Rally. The rally, which has been in operation annually since 2001 and is planned to run this year May 31–June 3, was sold by motorcycle enthusiasts Paul Barger and Eli McCall.

Wood, who has supported the rally since its inception, said he made the purchase after being approached by Barger and McCall, who were seeking to find a permanent home for the event that has attracted up to 10,000 attendees.

Bolivar Speedway
Nelson, a former racer and flagman at the Bolivar Speedway, is planning this year to hold a variety of events at the 3,400-seat facility with a three-eighths mile asphalt track and a quarter-mile dirt track. He has renamed the 31-acre site Nelson’s Bolivar Speedway & Events Center.

According to the Polk County recorder’s office, the facility and land were purchased on Jan. 4 for $1,000. Nelson said he was the only bidder.

Nelson said during its early years, the speedway could attract 5,000 visitors per week, and local short-track racers would often compete in Bolivar and in Springfield with fans coming from both cities. The speedway was opened roughly 40 years ago by Roddie Hughs, and Nelson is now working to revive the venue by diversifying its client base.

“Racing has gotten to where weekly programs don’t do well anymore,” Nelson said, adding that former owner Don Hicks had been renting the Bolivar Speedway to the owner of the Urbana Speedway through the middle of last year, but bad weather and low attendance led to the Bolivar closure. Nelson said he has seen smaller area tracks struggle to compete in recent years after the addition of the multimillion-dollar Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, about 26 miles north of Bolivar.   

In the short term, Nelson expects to host flea markets, but in time, he believes he can host everything from gospel and bluegrass concerts to rodeos and the circus.

Racing is still part of the picture. He said in the last month he’s received queries for special events from a couple motorcycle racing groups and Mike Wallace Racing, whose owner, Mike Wallace, is a Fenton native who has collected $17 million in winnings throughout his NASCAR career.

Nelson said he’ll be running the facilities with the help of his family, and their goal is to host 10 events in the first 12 months.

“There’s nothing in that area where people can go outdoors, seat 3,400 people and have a function there. We are wanting to lease it out, just like the (Ozark Empire Fairgrounds) does,” Nelson said. He said rates could be as low as $2,000 per day, but costs could vary based on who collects sales from concessions and parking fees.

Nelson was the longtime operator of the I-44 Swapmeet until about two years ago, and he saw the purchase of the former Bolivar Speedway as a way to re-enter the flea market business. He plans to hold a swap meet at the facility around three times a year, with the first event scheduled May 3–6.  

Branson Motorcycle Rally
Entrepreneur Wood added the Branson Motorcycle Rally to his portfolio as a way to attract people to his hotel, the Outback Roadhouse Motel and Suites, adjacent to his Outback restaurant and pub.

Wood said he was at first skeptical about taking on the rally, but he agreed with owners McCall and Barger that the event needed a permanent home and thought the move could be good for business.

“My motel down here does well during the rally. We’ve been doing very well with mom-and-pop cyclists and small groups, and I thought, ‘I’m trying to find ways to fill my hotel just like every (hotel owner) in Branson is,’” Wood said. “So, I listened.”

Barger, who has since been hired by Wood as Outback’s director of operations, said the deal was made for $68,000 and gives Wood T-shirt, Web site and naming rights.

As part of the sale agreement, McCall and Barger agreed to work with Wood to organize the event during Wood’s first year, Barger said.

“His property with the restaurant, the pub and the hotel was just ideal for the rally,” Barger said. “He’s always been a supporter, and so we approached him. He wanted to do it, and we wanted to let him.”

Both Barger and Wood said the twisting roads of the Ozarks hills have long attracted motorcycle enthusiasts. The event has drawn as many as 10,000 visitors in the past, Barger said, but last year with the Joplin tornado and a change in venue to The Mansion Theatre, dropped event attendance to only 5,000 motorcyclists.

“It was going from place to place and it needed an anchor,” Wood said, adding that he thought the event could attract more than 12,000 people this year and be a boon to not only his businesses but also the local economy.

This year’s event will feature music by at least 12 area bands, vendors, pit-bike races and jump displays by motorcycle aerialist Travis Davis.

Admission on Friday and Saturday is $15, and motorcyclists can ride the guided motorcycle tours. Barger said the event has been free in the past, and vendor fees and T-shirt sales would barely cover the costs to run the event. A portion of this year’s admission, which could generate $150,000, will be donated to the American Cancer Society and the Crazy Horse Memorial, according to Wood.