Marshalltown Speedway

Marshalltown Speedway's Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle...
October 24th-26th Harvest Hustle concludes the 202...
ShowDown at MoTown wins to Laney, Kaplan, Gustin,...
Marshalltown Speedway's Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle...

Marshalltown Speedway's Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle...

10/27/2024 -
October 24, 24 MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa The Marshalltown Speedway closed its doors on the 2024 season with the running of the Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle on
October 24th-26th Harvest Hustle concludes the 202...

October 24th-26th Harvest Hustle concludes the 202...

9/19/2024 -
September 19, 2024 MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa Things will heat up the last weekend of October and close out the season during the with the Fast Shafts Harvest
ShowDown at MoTown wins to Laney, Kaplan, Gustin,...

ShowDown at MoTown wins to Laney, Kaplan, Gustin,...

9/2/2024 -
August 30, 2024 MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa The Karl Auto Group ShowDown in MoTown was held at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday with a whopping 178 cars fro

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Marshalltown Speedway's Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle on the High Ba

Marshalltown Speedway's Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle on the High Ba...

10/27/2024
October 24, 24 MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa The Marshalltown Speedway closed its doors on the 2024 season with the running of the Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle on the High Banks this past weekend. Friday night, October 25, saw qualifying through double heats for the IMCA Friesen...more
October 24th-26th Harvest Hustle concludes the 2024 Race Season

October 24th-26th Harvest Hustle concludes the 2024 Race Season

9/19/2024
September 19, 2024 MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa Things will heat up the last weekend of October and close out the season during the with the Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle. The 3-day event will start off with a Thursday evening Test n’ Tune and conclude with over $72,000.00 being paid...more
ShowDown at MoTown wins to Laney, Kaplan, Gustin, Graham, Freebur

ShowDown at MoTown wins to Laney, Kaplan, Gustin, Graham, Freebur...

9/2/2024
August 30, 2024 MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa The Karl Auto Group ShowDown in MoTown was held at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday with a whopping 178 cars from all across the United States tuning up for the upcoming IMCA 42nd Annual Super Nationals. Cody Laney would take the...more
Six Track Champions Crowned at Marshalltown Speedway

Six Track Champions Crowned at Marshalltown Speedway

8/18/2024
August 16, 2024 MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA It was the N 3rd Avenue Dairy Queen Larry Wollam Season Championship Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway and six track champions were crowned. Out of car introductions were made for all features. The point leader in each division...more


RACING’S MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION HAS NO DEFINITIVE ANSWER
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5/14/2020

5/14/2020

Marshalltown Speedway


RACING’S MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION HAS NO DEFINITIVE ANSWER

All eyes wonder when we will race again. There is much speculation, but here’s a behind-the-scenes view that should shed some light.

On a daily basis, promoters, sanctioning bodies, manufacturers, and insurance companies are spending hours on the phone searching for a plan. It’s like an NFL coach waiting for the opportunity to put a full playbook into effect. Racing’s playbook is ready for whichever hand is dealt when the government unfurls its green flag.

There are so many different factors people can’t weigh it all out. But if you’d like to know what’s holding tracks back from operation, here is a short list to think about: The safety of employees who fear spreading the Coronavirus or being exposed to it. Everyone, it seems, has a different amount of concern and should be respected for their thoughts.

Racers and tracks have an obligation to sponsors. You - as a racer - and I – as a promoter - need to over-deliver to our sponsors and racing in front of an empty grandstand is not what they had in mind when they handed-over a check. As a track, an empty grandstand does absolutely nothing for our season sponsors, event sponsors, fans, and VIP guests. Imagine you went out and bought a $500 suit and just wore it around your house. You bought that suit because if you look good you feel good and wanted strut your stuff just a bit! When you work all winter on a new car, perhaps rebuilding your old one, put on a new body and wrap you want to go out and strut your stuff that way in front of a crowd.

Other racers know who the best in the pits are, just as fellow NBA players know how good Lebron James is. He was the first to speak up and say, “I will not play without fans in the stands.” Athletes want to display their talents in front of fans and offer that thrill and appreciation of their efforts to them.
All promoters are hearing the comment that we can have 10 people in the pits with every car. Reality is not many teams this side of Cup racing have 10 people on every crew, so the back gate is not as lucrative as some suggest that it is. The fact is most tracks average around four pits passes per car. By comparison, in South Dakota there were 149 cars in the pits and 535 passes were sold, which is an average of 3.59 per car. The PPV broadcasts have been necessary and will help support revenue for a short time but once that market gets saturated, which is very soon, that money will not carry tracks or events.

Our decisions have to be made safely and wisely, not based on emotions. I have been an avid race fan my entire life and want this as bad as anyone. We are all ready to smell the fumes, hear the roar, and be back with our racing families. As per the State of Iowa’s Governors proclamation, they will re-evaluate spectators in the grandstands on May 27th. As such, we will now be set to tentatively open up June 5th, and then the Dale DeFrance Memorial including the 500th Summer Series event and the Hawkeye Dirt Tour on Tuesday, June 9th.

In the early days, we raced from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We might be close to being on track for that. We are in the entertainment business. We have our entire life ahead, so let’s have some patience, and we will get back to the thing we love: slinging dirt and being with our racing family! Stay positive and healthy friends.


Article Credit: Toby Kruse

Submitted By: Jerry Vansickel

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