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Afton motorsports park promises great time for racers, families & fans
storY: ALLISON COLLINS, FOR INSIDE MOTORSPORTS Photos: SCOTT SEWARD
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Three-wide racing action happens at Afton Motorsports Park on the Afton fairgrounds.
Afton 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.”
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.”
AbOuT AFTOn mOTOrSpOrTS pArk
layOut 4/10-mile clay track lOcatiOn 46 East Main St., Afton, New York racing seasOn Friday nights, April through October, with a hiatus of several weeks in September. Hot laps start at 6:15 p.m., racing at 7 racing divisiOns Modifieds, Open Sportsman, Crate Sportsman, Street Stocks, Factory Stocks and Slingshots admissiOn Grandstand admission begins at 4:30 p.m., guests 15 and over are $10; guests 9 to 14, $5; and 8 and under, free. Special events may have an up-charge, which will be indicated in the schedule. cOntact AftonMotorsportsPark aftonmotorsportspark.com @AftonMtsptsPark
Slingshots, aftonmotorsports.com notes, race every other weekend. All races are held on Friday nights, with hot laps beginning at 6:15 p.m. and racing at 7. Strong Support
Ford said the track attracts local drivers and fans, with some out-of-state devotees. “For the most part, it’s local (drivers), but we do have a guy out of Sheffield, Massachusetts, and we do have some Pennsylvania guys,” he said. “But the majority is local, within a 30-mile radius. “(For fans), it’s roughly the same,” Ford continued. “For the most part, it’s local, but the outside guys that are coming from a distance usually have a fan following.”
Ford said fiscal support also reflects a strong local interest.
“Most of our sponsors are just local businesses,” he said. “It’s a lot of friends who own small businesses in the area.”
A January aftonmotorsportspark.com post noted that, with Ford’s extended contract, “American Racer tires, through
Cars queue at Afton Motorsports Park in this undated photo.
a partnership with Lias Tire in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Sunoco Race Fuels, via Insinger Performance of Dushore, Pennsylvania, will return as the official tire and fuel suppliers at the speedway.”
The facility, Ford noted, is “absolutely” family-friendly. There’s even, he said, a recurring Kids’ Club. “The Kids’ Club is a thing we have that the kids sign up for and we give away bicycles every week or have an activity, like coloring contests,” he said. “It’s different things to get kids interested and make them say, ‘mom, we’ve got to go to the racetrack.’ It’s all geared toward kids.”
Special events this year will include the Chad Sindoni Memorial Street Stock Race, scheduled for June 26, the Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour on Aug. 6 and 7 and the “Working man’s Race” Short Track SuperNationals on Oct. 11 and 12.
For more information, including the 2021 lineup and racing rules, visit aftonmotorsportspark.com or find “Afton Motorsports Park” on Facebook. Also, reach Ford at 607-6243772 or ampmotorsportspark.com.
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