4 August 2023
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW) — The people who have fought to keep the dirt racetrack at the Kansas State Fairgrounds have won a slight reprieve.
Last November, the Kansas State Fair Board of Directors decided to remove the track by the end of 2023.
“The office and our board has received many, many phone calls, many emails, many letters from race fans that don’t want to see the track go away,” Bryan Schulz, Kansas State Fair general manager, said.
So, on Friday, the Board announced it would “discuss the issue further” after the Kansas State Fair.
The Board held a meeting Thursday to discuss the racetrack. On Friday, it announced it would discuss the issue further after the Kansas State Fair. This is the Board’s statement:
The Kansas State Fair Board of Directors appreciates the passion and conviction from race fan’s shown towards the decision that was made back in November 2022 to remove the ½ mile oval at the Kansas State Fairgrounds Grandstand. The board has agreed to convene a meeting after the 2023 Kansas State Fair to discuss this issue further. Date to be determined.”
Kansas State Fair Board of Directors
“We’re 35 days away from the fair,” Schulz said. “That is our top priority. We are the largest event in the state of Kansas, and it takes a lot of time and energy to get this done. I mean, that’s where our focus needs to be right now.”
He said the Board made the original decision to remove the half-mile oval dirt track because it is only used for the three days of the Hutchinson Grand National Auto Races.
Supporters say the races help the local economy by bringing in thousands of people during the three-day event.
“I understand where they come from, but I don’t think they understand where we’re coming from,” Schulz said. “We don’t make any money off of this race. What we charge to use the facility doesn’t even come close to covering our costs.”
He said there have been rumors in the community that the Kansas State Fair makes $40,000 off the races.
“That is so untrue,” he said. “We lost almost $9,000 on doing this race with the Hutch Nationals.
We are a state agency that receives minimal money from the state. We are a fee-funded organization, that what we make on the grounds is what we can spend. So for us to lose $9,000 roughly on an event someone else is putting on, anybody that knows anything about finances would say, ‘Yeah, that’s not a good move.'”
Schulz said the track sits empty the rest of the year except for the occasional monster truck show or something similar.
“It’s taking up about 17 to 18 acres of land that we could be using for other things on the grounds,” he said.
He said some people wonder why the Kansas State Fair Board doesn’t put the track to use the rest of the year.
“We’re not in the business of putting on events other than the Kansas State Fair,” Schulz said. “We do over or close to 600 other events on the grounds, but these are people that rent the facility. Our staff is not large enough to be out there setting up the races and doing the races and acting as the promoter, and that’s just not in our mission to do something of that sort.”
The upkeep of the track does not cost a lot of money. It is usually just mowing and weeding until the Kansas State Fair. Then extra work goes into it.
Schulz says the Board is working with the state to get an on-call architect to create a master plan for the racetrack area.
“Our plan is to create it more into an entertainment district that could have a permanent stage so we could go out on some bigger concerts because currently, we have to bring in a stage and sounds and lights and all that kind of stuff which costs us about $200,000 a year for the State Fair,” Schulz said.
But he said the plan would most likely create an area for dirt events.
“We could do some other dirt events such as demolition derbies, monster truck shows, possibly tractor pulls or stuff like that, but having that in a separate kind of arena area that would not be right in front of the grandstand but would still have plenty of seating,” Schulz said.
He does not know if the dirt track will be saved.
“That all depends if that sugar daddy comes knocking on the door and says, ‘Hey, you know, here’s what I would like to do,'” Schulz said.
He said the Board would be willing to consider something like that.
“That was another rumor that was out there … that somebody had contacted us and wanted to do eight races last year,” Schulz said. “I’m sorry. There was never one conversation about that. If there would’ve been, we would’ve checked to see if we could’ve accommodated it. It never happened.”
KSN News will continue to follow this story after the State Fair.