 As Horn presented his proposals for the coming race season, aldermen
felt a change in his attitude and the level of respect he showed to
the council, and they responded accordingly.
"I can sense the change here," said Alderman David Wilmert, "and
it makes me more inclined to go along with you."
Horn came to the podium as his wife, Yvonne, passed out copies of
fliers and this season's schedule to the council. He said he wanted
to introduce his new partner in the speedway, the one passing out
the fliers.
Mayor Keith Snyder laughingly asked who was then the controlling
partner, which drew a chuckle from everyone in the room.
Horn said he had bought out his former partner during the
offseason, and he and his wife had been working to build a program
for Lincoln that would be outstanding.
The racing season is set to begin with a Sunday afternoon
practice on April 3 and the first official race on April 8.
Horn said he is working toward making the track a Friday night
track, and in this year's schedule there is only one Sunday race,
which will be the UMP Summer Nationals on July 3.
On the schedule this year are some special events, including the
United States Modified Touring Series on May 13. Horn explained this
is a national series that draws media. These are often races seen on
Speed Network, and he is hoping the camera crews will follow the
series to Lincoln that night.
Since last fall, Horn said he has received some really great help
from the co-owner and race promoter of the Macon County Speedway in
Macon, Bob Sargent.
Sargent co-owns the track with NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace,
Kenny Schrader and Tony Stewart.
Horn said Sargent has helped him make arrangements for Wallace
and Schrader to be in Lincoln on June 14 for a special event.
The drivers will have an autograph session prior to the race,
then race on the dirt track in the modified classes.
Horn said this would be a huge event, drawing spectators from
throughout the region.
Two days later, Lincoln will host the Performance Open Wheel
Racing Inc. Mini Sprint Showdown.
Horn explained that Lincoln Speedway and Macon are joining forces
on that week of racing, bringing NASCAR to Lincoln on Tuesday, POWRI
on Thursday, then moving the show to Macon on Friday and Saturday
for more POWRI racing.
Their hope is that folks will come for NASCAR, stay in Lincoln on
Wednesday, attend POWRI on Thursday and then go to Macon for their
weekend events.
This year, the speedway will turn all their 50-50 drawings over
to local organizations, asking only in return that they provide
volunteers to help monitor the grandstand gates.
There are also plans for special nights honoring Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, local fire departments and more, as well as one evening with
an Elvis impersonator performing during the intermission.
Horn said he is making every effort to make Lincoln Speedway
successful. He and his wife have been calling on local businesses,
and he said so far no one has thrown them out. He believes local
businesses do support the racing because of the revenues it brings
to them.
He commented: "I don't want to see this track fail, and if this
track fails, it will be the first thing I've ever done that did."
Considering the June weeknight races, Wilmert asked if he had to
make a choice between NASCAR and POWRI, which he would choose, and
Horn answered without a doubt NASCAR.
"NASCAR is big," Horn said. "I've tried before to get them and
couldn't get it done. People who don't like dirt track racing will
come that night to see Wallace and Schrader."
Horn said he was coming to the council to ask for one, two or
three curfew exceptions. He said he would take whatever they were
willing to give him, and the exceptions would be used only in the
races that draw participants from outside the area.
He said the local racers, if they don't get the race in, will
come back the next week, but with the bigger organizations, he
really wanted to give them every opportunity to finish a race when
they make the trip to Lincoln.
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He said if given the extensions, they would apply to only eight
of the 23 scheduled events.
He added that extensions are something he doesn't want to use. In
talking to his audience he's found they want the races to keep
moving along without delays, and they aren't interested in staying
any later than the 10:30 curfew.
Horn said extensions would only come into play when there is a
delay on the track due to a red flag or complete stopping of the
race. He said in reality these situations are not all that common.
They occur when a wreck happens and it takes a while to get the
driver out of the car and the car off the track.
He also told the council he would use only one time extension per
night. "If you give me 30 minutes and we can't finish it, then we'll
call it and go home," he said.
As discussions continued, the council pondered how many
extensions they would allow and what the weeknight curfews should be
for the June races.
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel said she felt like the track should be
given extensions to be used on all of the eight major races as
needed, but others preferred to hold it to a lesser number.
Alderman Tom O'Donohue noted there is more than just one issue
the council needs to act on. First of all, the track does not have
permission to run during the week. He said it needed to be decided
if Horn could have weeknight races, then decide on a curfew and
finally permit him to have some extensions.
Alderman David Armbrust suggested the council should stop
micromanaging Horn's business and let him run it as he sees fit,
with Alderwoman Joni Tibbs agreeing.
Alderwoman Melody Anderson spoke out, saying: "I think he's done
exactly what we have asked him to. We gave the parameters to run his
track. We told him if he needs to vary from that, he needs to come
(talk to us), and that is exactly what he has done.
"From our perspective," she continued, "we're not trying to run
his business; we're trying to find a happy medium between having a
profitable business and happy constituents."
Alderman Kathy Horn commented: "I agree with Alderman Anderson,
and I really want to congratulate Mr. Horn on the work he has done.
He has done everything we've asked, and this is the most organized
I've seen (it) since I've been up here and the racetrack has been in
question."
She went on to suggest the council give Lincoln Speedway three
extensions and specify that if he ends up needing more, he should
request additional extensions in writing.
She added: "Two nights in the same week just once, maybe it won't
hurt anything, and I'm one of the ones who will probably get the
phone calls."
In the end, what the council will consider is giving permission
for the special races on June 14 and 16 with curfews of 10:30, and
the allowance of three 30-minute extensions to be used during the
eight special events of the season, but only one per event.
These items will be on the March 21 voting agenda.
[By NILA SMITH]
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