The Rockingham Speedway, which hosted NASCAR Sprint Cup races from 1965 to 2004, is taking a huge step toward once again hosting big-league racing as SAFER “soft wall” barriers will be installed next month. The energy-absorbing system will be installed in two phases, in mid-September and late December, covering all four turns of the one-mile oval and the inside of the backstretch wall. NASCAR requires racetracks to have the SAFER barrier in place before they can host one of the sanctioning body’s top three national series — Sprint Cup, Nationwide, or Camping World Trucks. Rockingham officials have had discussions with NASCAR, albeit informal, about the possibility of a Nationwide or Truck Series event returning to the track more commonly known as The Rock. A source within NASCAR, speaking on condition of anonymity, admits as much. However, the lack of a SAFER barrier had always been an insurmountable issue. Without the promise of a NASCAR race, Hillenburg wasn’t confident enough to try and secure funds for SAFER installation. That now appears to have changed. NASCAR president Mike Helton told ESPN.com’s David Newton that while he “wouldn’t want to give anybody false hope,” the installation of SAFER barriers “gives us more options.”(ESPN.com)(8-16-2011)
UPDATE: From Frontstretch.com interview with Rockingham Speedway owner, Andy Hillenburg…
Neff: With the SAFER barrier installation in progress, the rumors have begun about the addition of a Truck race and/or a Nationwide race. Have you had any preliminary discussions with NASCAR about that?
Hillenburg: Yes, there have been preliminary discussions. I can’t give you an outcome yet, but it is something that we have been working towards since day one and it is something that we would like to see. It hasn’t happened yet, but there are finally realistic discussions taking place yes.
Neff: In looking at the attendance at the Spring UARA / USAR Pro Cup race, it was definitely sparser than we would like to see, and obviously the economy is part of that. Is that something you worry about that, if you do land a Truck and / or Nationwide race you’re going to have trouble bringing in a crowd? Or do you think the NASCAR name is going to be enough to give you a decent crowd?
Hillenburg: That’s too early to say without actually having a NASCAR race in place but, if it were to come to pass I would definitely think that would help. At the same time, as a promoter, I am experimenting as well. Different types of advertising packages, lots of advertising, very little advertising. Basically I feel like I’m going to college learning how to run events, and I’m doing so by running these smaller events so I can learn and learn by having more of them. I can learn at a faster pace than just running one event per year.(Frontstretch.com)(8-26-2011)
