8/11/2022
Lancaster Speedway
Lancaster Drag Racing Program Rolling Along; Looking Ahead to Future
Rain clouds that forced the cancellation of the drag racing program Friday at Lancaster Motorplex haven't dampened the enthusiasm of new track co-owner Mike Swinarski.
Swinarski, a veteran drag racer, along with stock car racer Scott Nurmi, purchased the stock car/drag racing facility in late April just before the scheduled start of the season.
Since then, the pair has been busy just getting the drag and stock car programs up and running. They’ve also been experiencing the learning curve that comes with track ownership while planning for the track’s future.
Swinarski said fine-tuning the race programs, promotions, marketing, and 2023 schedules have now moved to the front burner.
“We’re doing all right so far,” Swinarski said. “Hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll still be doing good, and then next year we’ll start from scratch.”
Through the start of August, the drag racing program has averaged about 140 cars per race at the weekly Friday night IHRA point races. A few special events, including jet cars and other drag racing series, have spiced up the entertainment value.
“We had the Buffalo Street Outlaws here last week, and they brought a lot of spectators,” Swinarski said. “I don’t know what else to say, other than in general, the drags are doing good. Sometimes we get a few less cars per week, and other weeks we get a few more. That’s normal for the sport.”
One area Swinarski pointed to as troublesome in recent weeks concerns a supply problem with the traction compound that is laid down on the track surface before each race to help enhance car control.
“The biggest challenge so far this year with the drag racing program has been the fact that they don’t seem to make the good glue anymore that we put down to prep the track and we’re trying to find something else to use that will work out good for everybody,” Swinarski explained.
“The track prep has been a hurdle we’re working to overcome. The good news is that we’ve only had a couple of rainouts, and most of the time, we have been able to get the track open for competition. “Many people are thanking me, so I have to be doing enough right.”
Swinarski has competed at Lancaster fairly consistently during the last few decades, but he has not made an on-track appearance yet this season at Lancaster since becoming part of the ownership partnership. “I wanted to bring my race car out this year, but I’ve got to get the management end of things down and the office straightened out first before I can get out behind the wheel of my drag car myself,” Swinarski said.
With a few weeks of drag and stock car competition remaining, Swinarski forecasts a strong finish. “We started this season so late because of buying the track in mid-April,” Swinarski said. “We bought it just a month before we opened for racing. That wasn’t enough time, but we got it done. We’ll complete this season and access everything over the winter for next year. “We still have a few stock cars races left, such as the U.S. Open, and a lot of drag races left in 2022. So talk to me at the end of the season and I’ll have a much clearer picture of things.”
Sharon Hughes is the longtime drag racing director at Lancaster. She spoke about her assessment of the 2022 drag racing campaign to date and also hinted that the 2023 stock car calendar might include more than just the seven stock car dates that were scheduled for this season.
“It was tough early on because, obviously, the track changed hands right before the season started,” Hughes said. “So everything was sort of done by the seat of our pants, but we’ve been working on it hard, and we’ve had some really good car counts. We’re more than halfway through the season and we’re already talking about 2023.
“We’re working on many things such as rules, procedures, and, especially, the schedule. We want to get that out earlier so everybody can plan accordingly since it was pretty hard to get the schedule out at the last minute for this current season.
“We’re planning drag racing programs now for every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, as well as other drag racing specials for next season. I can also tell you that probably there will be more stock car racing events, but that is not definite. That would be great. I’m extremely happy with the way things are going.”
Vito Antonicelli was part of the lease group that helped manage Lancaster from 2019-2022 before the new ownership group took over in April. He is no longer part of the Lancaster management team but is still on the scene with his race car. He was in the pits Friday at Lancaster preparing his car for the night’s competition before it was felled by the raindrops.
“I’m just going to do some local drag racing this year, and maybe next year we’ll travel to out-of-the-area races a little bit,” Antonicelli said. “I miss some of the things about helping to manage this race track. I miss the people more. I wanted to get back into race driving. I hadn’t done that in four years. That’s my business with owning Antonicelli Race Cars.
“It’s a tough business to be in, running a race track. You’re always bucking the weather and everything else. You’re always trying to please a lot of people. Mike and Scott are good people. They’ll do fine.
“I say this in a kidding way, but now I’m trying to win and take purse money from the track, instead of investing money into the track. I hope!”
Article Credit: Larry Ott
Submitted By: Steven Petty