Race car fans urge Fair Board to keep dirt race tracks

Race car enthusiasts packed the Kansas State Fair Board meeting Thursday to express opposition to the board's decision to remove the dirt race tracks at the fairgrounds.

In a meeting room at the Rice Park Community Center in Hutchinson, a standing-room-only crowd came to urge the board to reverse its November 2022 decision to tear down the tracks by the end of the year.

Race car enthusiast William Nusser, the mayor of Larned, said there was a very good turnout of racing fans for the meeting at the Rice Park Community Center in Hutchinson.

“There was standing room only (at the meeting)” Nusser said. “It was great to see support from the Kansas Legislature and the (Hutchinson) city council. We are expecting continued support throughout the community as we work to stop the demolition.”

Fair Board General Manager Bryan Schulz was not at the meeting due to personal reasons.

“The Kansas State Fair Board of Directors appreciates the passion and conviction from race fans shown towards the decision that was made back in November 2022 to remove the half-mile oval at the Kansas State Fairgrounds Grandstand,” the board said in a statement released Friday. “The board has agreed to convene a meeting after the 2023 Kansas State Fair (Sept. 8-17) to discuss this issue further.”

Nusser said the main topics by racing fans in attendance were how to stop the demolition and how people can contact the board and governor to voice concerns.

"We want to know just how our collective action could and should sway the board to not proceed forward with demolition,” he said. "We’ll be announcing a meeting in the next couple of weeks and we expect to meet again as a group prior to the state fair. Expectations for the announced fair board meeting after state fair is to see a reversal of the plan for demolition and for them to request for proposal for future promotion of the facility.”

Nusser said fans interested in saving the track can go to saveourtrack.com or join our “Chasing history Save our famed 1/2 mile” Facebook group.

“It has been a tremendous grassroots effort and we’re just beginning,” Nusser said.