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The first season, the races were on Sunday nights. This year they
were changed to Saturday night. Attendance did go down, believed to
be because of competition with other nearby tracks this year.
Aldermen asked questions of Hammer that led to a thorough
examination of the ins and outs of the business, noise issues
affecting neighbors to the track, and a look at the quality of life
and the economic impact that the business has on the community. It
was a dance of negotiating between what might be best for the
community and allowing the track flexibility enough to be
successful.
Hammer is now co-owner with original owner Norm Horn. The track
was started and run the first season by Norm Horn and Gary Baugh.
Last spring Glynn Barber of Xplex Extreme Sports bought the business
and set up the 2006 season. Barber negotiated with the city and
asked to change the day from Sunday night to Saturday night. The
short-term owner lost $62,000 during the opening weeks.
In midseason Hammer bought in to become partners with Horn.
Hammer is now the manager. Horn is maintaining the track.
Several citizens made comments during the meeting, either for
more freedom for the owners to schedule track nights or in
preference of the night and hours of the races.
Joyce Seelye, who lives near the track, objected to having races
on Sunday night and also wants them to stop by 10:30 p.m. so she and
other people can get to sleep.
She said it is difficult to keep up with the dust and dirt
from the track that gets on windows and siding, and the noise is so
loud that you can't even watch TV or entertain outside. Our taxes
didn't go down, but our property values did, she said.
Many people in Lincoln have to get up early for work on Monday
mornings, some driving to out-of-town jobs in Decatur, Peoria,
Springfield and Bloomington.
Hammer said that if they were to have races on Sundays again,
they would start earlier and end by 9 p.m. Some of our drivers have
to be up early for jobs on Monday too, and they still have a drive
home; some come a long distance and still have to take time to put
away their cars when they get back home, he said.
Hammer said that Sprint cars are the noisiest. "They are not
coming back," he said. This is a stock car area.
Also, he said, there were a few cars that arrived for their first
time without mufflers and were given common industry courtesy to
race, but they are not given that chance a second time.
It has been recognized that under Hammer the track began
operating smoothly. Since he began, he has not run past their curfew,
and he remains committed to that. This has caused a few drivers to
go home without getting to race, local racer Jack Owens testified.
The drivers are disappointed when they come all that way and wait,
and then don't get to race, but they understand.
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 Owens also suggested that property values are not affected by the
presence of a track as some local people claim. He cited Fairbury as
an example where quarter-million-dollar houses sit right across from
the track.
He said that his work takes him across the country, and when he
talks to others about racing, Farmer City is known as a premier
track. Lincoln holds great potential, as it is in an even better
position than Farmer City because of parking, accesses and a great
open pit area for the cars. "This is a chance for Lincoln to grow,"
Owens said.
Unlike the first season in 2005, aldermen observed that they
received fewer to no calls complaining about the track noise this
last season. It was debated whether this was because of the change
to Saturday night, when fewer people had to get up for work the next
morning, or because it was ending earlier; or as Hammer suggested,
because they had just gotten over the shock effect that occurred the
first season.
Hammer has a following of car drivers from managing the Farmer
City track, which he continues to manage as well. However, he still
has numerous other factors to weigh out to make the track a success.
It is important to stay out of competition with other nearby tracks.
He must choose what models to run. This last season the late models
"didn't make a dime," he said. "Too many tracks were running them."
Hammer is not worried about attracting enough cars. The track is
already exceeding the average. But they do want to work on filling
the bleachers. To be successful, there needs to be 1,000 fans in
seats, he said.
The nearby Macon County track is considering closing, and that
would create an opening. Their decision could come next week, or it
may not be determined until next February.
The races will continue to run one weekend night per week, but
Hammer would like to bring in one, two or three larger, nationally
recognized shows. He is requesting an additional day on the weeks
that these shows would run. The shows might be on a weekday or on
the weekend, according to when they are available. The extra
day would provide consistency for the regular weekly drivers.
The big shows promise good attendance that would boost local
business and tourism.
Hammer mentioned the first time he came before the council that
he would like to work with the fair board and change nights some
weeks in order to allow them to host some shows that they would
otherwise have to turn down because the cars would be a disturbance,
such as to cows.
Likewise, council member Wanda Lee Rohlfs said she would want to
be able to negotiate with the racetrack if there were other event
conflicts in the community with a particular race night.
With so many variables in the mix, aldermen and Hammer were left
with no clear answers on what would be best. Alderman Verl Prather
proposed that Hammer gather and present a season schedule for the
council to consider as soon as that would be possible.
[Jan
Youngquist] |
