Mount Vernon News

MOUNT VERNON — Fans will notice a few changes when Pacemakers Dragway Park officially opens its 52nd season of racing with Friday and Saturday’s Test and Tune. Although this weekend marks the first racing of 2008, activity has been underway for quite a while.

Track operator Mike Fouts, who also owns Slip-Tech, Inc., has given the old eighth-of-a-mile run a facelift with the help of fellow operators, Chris and Amy Cyrus, who own Cyrus Concrete. Pacemakers has replaced the familiar, old guard rails with safer and more modern concrete walls.

“We replaced the steel guard rails in the first 1,000 feet of the track,” said Fouts. “It was a safety enhancement for the racers as well as for the spectators.”

Clinton Township will also benefit from the new walls.

“The solid concrete wall will direct the sound more vertically up into the air since there is no opening in the side of the walls for the sound to get through,” said Fouts.

The track will continue to run in 2008 under the same operating agreement with Clinton Township and will continue to have a midnight curfew.

Pacemakers will hold a number of special events this year starting June 13 through 15 with a nostalgia weekend. This will feature the United Manual Transmission Racers Association, a four-speed, stick-shift class, which will be there on Saturday, June 14. There will also be a car show that day.

In July, Pacemakers will play host to the Goodson Pro Top Outlaw Series. In this series, cars will fly down the eighth of a mile track in under 3.9 seconds, reaching speeds of over 180 miles per hour. Pacemakers will also participate in the Street Legal Racing campaign this season.

“This program will allow young adults to get to race on the race track at a very reasonable cost and keep the racing off the streets,” said Fouts.

Another change has come in the form of high fuel prices. Surprisingly, while regular gasoline has climbed to record levels, the cost of racing fuel has barely budged from last year’s levels.

“The scary part is that the cost of the fuel to pull our tow rigs to get to the race track is getting awful close to the cost of the race gas itself,” said Fouts. “The 110 octane race gas still costs 6 dollars per gallon, but that was pretty much the price last year.”

Fouts hopes that this will mean that local racers will continue to race every weekend, but will stay close to home and not stray to other tracks.

“The biggest problem is going to be how often people can race and how far they have to travel to come to the race track,” said Fouts. “On the other side of that, there are a lot of racers in the area who, in the past, have traveled away from Pacemakers to race at other tracks. I think, with the fuel situation, they will stay more locally. Hopefully, the ones that are staying will offset the ones that will not travel here due to the cost of the fuel to get to the track.”

Along with that, Fouts is working hard to promote the track locally to attract more sponsors and also to bring in more local race fans as spectators.

“The bottom line is (fans are) my major income source,” said Fouts. “I mean in the reality of running a race track of this size, my racer entry fees cover the pay out to those racers and things like that. What I have got to do is build up the spectator count. Again, this year, on non-special event weekends, the spectator side of the track is still going to be no charge. When we get into the special events, we are hoping that they are only going to be a $10 charge for adults. Hopefully, with gas prices the way they are, people will be looking for something to entertain them where they don’t have to drive clear to Columbus. They can come here and find a clean, family-oriented environment.”

Fouts plans a greater media presence for Pacemakers and, as always, sponsorship is the key.

“We’ve got more room for more sponsor signings on both sides of the new concrete wall, which will allow local sponsors to promote at the track by providing signage at the facility,” said Fouts. “We also have racer sponsor packages where you get to sponsor a car and also get signage at the track, which helps cut the driver’s cost to race.”

Donations are being sought to offset the cost of the material to build the concrete walls. Anyone interested in pledging donations for the construction of the walls, or to purchase a sponsorship package, can call the track at 397-2720 or check at www.pacemakersdragway.com. Those who have already pledged a donation may send it to the following address: Pacemakers Dragway Park, Attn: Wall Fund, 3410 E. 7th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43219.