Tucson Speedway Qualifying A Comeback
Tucson Speedway was just named one of only a handful of tracks nationwide to receive grant money from NASCAR. It’s part of an ongoing renovation to Arizona’s only NASCAR-named home track.
The track is a feeder for Phoenix International Raceway and was once owned by NASCAR CEO Brian France.
In 2013, John Lashley reopened it as a hometrack, a group of NASCAR-sanctioned regional stock-car raceways. Lashley has partnered with Pima County to develop the location after it closed from 2010 to 2012.
“We thought it brought some stability to the track," Lashley said. "The track has had pretty much an up and down checkered past for about the last ten years prior to us taking it over."
Now, Lashley holds a 19-year lease on the location and keeps the track running through ticket sales. NASCAR's grant for $10,000 will go to upgrade track lights.
“The lights cost $80,000. So, you just can’t do much for a hundred bucks or a thousand bucks or ten thousand bucks," Lashley said. "But, we are very appreciative that NASCAR is helping us."
Lashley said his ongoing challenge is to get the people in Pima County and Phoenix to value short-track racing and view it as a family event.
“… [B]y not only doing racing but doing other stuff at the track too, you know whether it’s mud drags or boat races or all the goofy stuff we do on a Saturday night," he said.
Saturday was Tucson Speedway’s season opener. Its season has 23 races.
