There’s an interesting story going on at Mansfield Motorsports Park in Mansfield, Ohio. The track was founded as a 3/8-mile dirt oval in 1959, then grew to a 1/2-mile by 1972. The place was abandoned in the mid 1990s, then revived in 1999. Just ten years later, the track had announced that it would not have a 2009 season, but racing was preserved when ARCA and Music City Motorplex promoter Joe Mattioli III stepped in to help out.
Now track owner Mike Dzurilla is hoping to secure the track’s financial future by adding grassroots drag racing to the program. The North Central Building Trades union is behind the program (because of the work that the construction would create), and a proposal for state economic funding is being put in front of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland on March 7. The potential government endorsement will basically clear the way for a bank loan.
It would be nice to see a new track that benefits a local track, a local community, local workers, and local racers. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
Sources
Mansfield News Journal — State Grant Could Revive Plan to Build MMP Drag Strip
Mansfield Motorsports Park — History
FullThrottleCranialActiity.net — Mansfield Motorsports Park Rises Like the Proverbial Phoenix
