‘Fast, Fun, Furious’
Afton Motorsports Park Promises Great Time for Racers, Families & Fans story: Allison Collins, FOR INSIDE MOTORSPORTS Photos: Scott Seward
Three-wide racing action happens at Afton Motorsports Park on the Afton fairgrounds.
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fton Motorsports Park, at 46 East Main St. in Afton, New York, has long been bringing fast-paced fun to Chenango County. The 4/10-mile dirt track, situated on the Afton Fairgrounds, hosts modifieds, open sportsman, crate sportsman, street stocks, factory stocks and slingshots April through October. Promoter and Afton native Ron Ford, with the track since 2017, announced renewal of his contract in early 2021. Ford continues a racing tradition started more than 30 years ago. “It’s been going for quite a few years now,” Ford said. “Jim Randall was a local promoter for a long time and he went to the fair board and got it operating … in the early to mid-‘80s. There have been a few different promoters, but it’s been pretty steady since Jim took it over. “I’ve always been into racing,” he continued. “I raced myself. It’s just something I’ve always liked and I enjoy it. It gets in your blood.”
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Inside Motorsports | April 2021
Bouncing Back
Ford said, despite the challenges related to the pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19, he’s hopeful for the 2021 season. “Last year was not a good year,” he said, “but it’s looking pretty good for this year. We only raced three times (in 2020), but the governor did not allow any fans. To have no fans — it’s hard to pay purses when you don’t put people in the grandstands to generate the money. We had quite a tough time and … we lost money, so we’ve just got to hope
for that fan base this year. Racing is a tough thing to do without fans. “It looks like they’re going to give us possibly a percentage of grandstand (capacity),” Ford continued. “The thing out right now (in late February) is about 33% (attendance), but that puts us in a pretty good range of what we normally get, so that would work for us.” The covered grandstand at Afton Motorsports Park seats 1,500, Ford noted. “I wish we had that, but we don’t get that many,” he said. “On an average night, we’re in the 600 range.” Ford said, aside from pandemic-related hurdles, Mother Nature has historically presented the greatest challenge to upkeep of the all-clay track. “Weather is your biggest issue,” he said. “If the weather’s not good, we’ve got to decide, are we going to race, or are we not? The grandstand is an issue and preparing the track is the same – watering the track and how much or not to put on.” The mid-April start of the season, Ford said, will see the return of all racing divisions. “Right now, we’re running modifieds — that’s your headline division — then crate sportsman and we also run open sportsman and street stocks,” he said. “Then we run factory stocks, which is similar to a street stock, just not as advanced, and slingshots. A lot of the kids run slingshots, (because) that’s a steppingstone to get kids into and further them in racing.” continued on page 26
