ELKIN — The owners of Friendship Motor Speedway in an extensive social media post last week announced that all remaining 2022 races as the Speedway have been canceled.
The post goes on to say that despite the best efforts of the new owners of the track to rehabilitate the facility they are throwing in the towel.
“After this past weekend we decided we really don’t have to unlock a gate for the track staff and ourselves to be cussed at, spit on, threatened, and disrespected. We are done.”
“When we purchased Friendship last year, we had high expectations for ourselves to not only clean up the facility, but also the reputation of the track. We wanted to provide a top-notch venue that drivers, fans, and the community could be proud of.”
It was a variety of factors that led the owners to make this decision after having put in the effort to get the track open and ready to receive fans once more. “We are not going to blame tire shortages or the economy because we have consistently had some of the best car counts of anywhere in the Southeast.”
“The honest reason is that we are not willing to put up with the disrespect and verbal abuse that some of the drivers, crew members and fans are directing to the track staff and owners.”
The owners cited a number of issues, including area fans slipping into the track without paying admission charges, or using fraudlent tickets and papers in an attempt to get in without paying and then becoming abusive when asked to pay or leave; vandlism to restrooms; drivers and fans becoming abusive toward track employees when poor weather causes cancellations of races or practice session; fans trashing the place with extreme amounts of garbage; and other factors.
Problems have arisen at the track that involve basic elements of decorum that at Charlotte Motor Speedway or Martinsville may not have occurred given their size and status on the marquee circuits. Friendship though is not pulling in 43 cars with Austin Dillon or Kevin Harvick in the field, rather the hopefuls and dreamers who may aspire to have take a seat in a Childress or Hendrick stock car.
“Maybe our expectations were too high,” the owners said in their statement.
“We tried to act professionally and wanted everyone who came through a gate at Friendship Motor Speedway to go home feeling proud of the facility and their opportunity to enjoy a good race, whether from the stands or the driver’s seat. We anticipated providing a track where our local drivers could showcase their talent and would bring regional recognition to them and ultimately higher payouts.”
Ownership cited issues with paying drivers after the races as some has not completed the necessary tax paperwork and became combative with track staff over the matter. So too were there issues with respect of private property, namely the restrooms, and boundaries with one of the track owners saying they were verbally abused for trying to enforce safety protocol.
“When a track worker or law enforcement asks you to move away from a certain area, it is for your own, the racers’, and the track’s protection. Besides the fact that we don’t want to see anyone hurt, we don’t want our insurance premiums to increase. If a track’s insurance premiums go up, that cost is going to be passed along in higher admission prices or reduced purse.”
“We want to thank the drivers and fans who supported us and didn’t think it was such a burden to follow the simple rules and procedures required to make an event run smoothly. It breaks our hearts to know that our decision will mean some of the drivers who have always been a pleasure to work with might not have an opportunity to race in the future.”
Friendship Motor Speedway will still be available on a limited schedule for private test sessions, the notice announced. The owners will explore other options for uses of the facility.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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