Sports are already back, if you’re into cheap beer, cleaning dust off your clothes, and the roar of engines in the night. The bright lights and loud crowds are real again in the sport of dirt track racing.
The return to normal is slower in some places than others, but the return is coming. In May, racing legend Tony Stewart and his racing series returned in Jefferson, South Dakota (population 547 as of 2010), in front of a limited crowd. Jackson, Minnesota (population less than 3,300), saw the comeback of the World of Outlaws series in May; the series just completed a weekend race in Knoxville, Iowa (population less than 7,300), home of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. And in the appropriately named Pennsylvania borough of Mechanicsburg (population less than 9,000), Williams Grove Speedway will become the final track in the region to make its return, ending a three-month hiatus.
It’s not a glamorous or profitable sport. My grandpa once told my father that the best way to make a million dollars in dirt racing was to start with $2 million. But for small towns and racing communities, a Saturday night at the track is tradition. For young children, the late-night struggle to stay awake is a rite of passage. It’s a sport built for the fan experience, and the fans have made their return to dirt tracks across the country.
The May 22 World of Outlaws race in Pevely, Missouri (population less than 5,500), was one of the first sporting events in the United States to see real fans back in the stands. NASCAR, the more popular and wealthier cousin of dirt racing, will get its fans back in July. In the meantime, UFC and boxing hold their fights fanless, while the NBA and MLB haven’t yet figured out if their sports can get off the ground.
As the national media wait breathlessly on what happens next in America’s big cities, the lights will go on at the dirt tracks in towns most people haven’t heard of. And the fans will make their triumphant return, as if nothing ever happened, to enjoy some of the greatest shows on dirt.
