Bainey takes over controls at Central Pa. Speedway
He’s driven on the local, regional
and national levels, racing at such tracks as Pocono, Daytona and Atlanta in the ARCA circuit. He currently owns the DRT Enterprises racing team, which will field cars for his son Tim, Jr. and Brett Butler in the USAR Hooters ProCup Series’ Northern Division this year. He even serves as spotter for his son at races.
But there was one last bit of unexplored territory, until recently. Tim, Sr. is now a track owner. Tim, Sr. has purchased Central Pa. Speedway in Clearfield, a 3/8-mile dirt track where he raced during the early part of his
career. Bainey purchased the track and its grounds from former owner Dan Russell for an undisclosed figure.
“I lost a lot of sleep trying to put this one together,” said Tim Sr., who owns his own trucking business. “You wake up in the middle of the night wondering if you really want to do that."
Bainey, 49, nearly purchased the track last year, but negotiations ended without a deal.
“I always figured the good Lord will either open up the door or shut it,” he said. “Last year, it got shut. This year, it opened back up. If this is supposed to happen, then we’ll lay the cards out and see where they go. They’ve all turned up OK so far.”
Part of what attracted Bainey to the track was the track itself, located west of Clearfield near Interstate 80. He’s raced on the dirt there and knows that the venue is a fan favorite and well-liked
by drivers for its wide surface.
“You can go there as a spectator and there’s not a bad seat in the house,” Bainey said. “It’s big enough that you can pass three-wide. We’ve been to some places — even the big dirt shows — that it’s one single-
lane deal. I own it, but I want to go there as a spectator and watch a good race.”
Bainey admits that buying a racetrack in a tough economy is a risky venture, but for someone who started his business with one truck in 1988, it’s worth the gamble. “I can’t drive anymore. Timmy gets that fun,” Tim, Sr. said. “For me, the racetrack is a different challenge. If you quit taking challenges, you might as well be dead.”
What Tim, Sr., hopes will make this challenge easier is the help of his family. When they’re not racing, sons Tim, Jr. and Dan, his brother’s crew chief, are at East Coast Marketing Group, Inc., which was started by Tim, Jr. The company, which also employs Tim Jr.’s fiancée Nikki Grace, has done marketing and advertising for several regional and national brands and offers services such as Web site and graphic design.
“If I didn’t have these guys as a marketing group, I probably wouldn’t try it,” Tim, Sr. said.
The sons, who as youngsters played in the stands and in the dirt while their father was racing, see marketing potential for the speedway. They’ve already created a new Web site for the speedway and hope to make the site a hub for regional and national dirt track enthusiasts.
“When you go out all around the country, you really appreciate what’s going on in your hometown,” Tim, Jr. said. “Once you go out and see what’s out there, you realize that this racetrack is one of the best to be at around the country. There’s a lot to work with.”
“The best thing about dirt racing is that it’s an experience,” Dan said. “It’s not just going to watch a race.”
Tim, Jr., who has spent much of his racing career seeking sponsorship for a national series, sees an untapped local and regional market. “There are a lot of local companies, that with all the racing we do nationally, that can’t benefit from that. This is going to give us a way to give any sponsor a great venue or outlet to do that.”
“You want to go to these people as a sponsor, not just to get their money,” Tim, Sr. said. “They should be able to get a good return on their buck.”
Tim, Sr. said improved marketing will benefit everyone.
“If we keep the sponsors involved, the drivers are going to make more money, the crowd isn’t going to have to pay an arm-and-a-leg to see the show, but everybody should walk away satisfied. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
With improved payouts, the speedway may be able to lure some of the best national drivers to compete against regional and local standouts. Dirt track legend Scott Bloomquist won the Yankee Doodle 50 there last July. The Baineys also have contacts with national racers, who like to dabble in dirt racing, through their own racing careers.
They hope to give area racers, who take no backseat to anyone on dirt, a chance to race against elite and well-known competition for big purses.
“The local guys can’t go run the Daytona 500, but you can bring something like that to their track and give those guys the opportunity to race against everybody else and do some special things,” Dan said. “It gives them something to tell their kids about.”
Tim Sr. said he has no plans to “reinvent the wheel” at the track. Ken McLaughlin will serve as the facility’s general manager and director of competition.
“I don’t want to run all of the aspects of that racetrack,” Tim, Sr. said. “I just want to have fun doing it.”
Currently three race dates are scheduled on the track’s calendar — May 25, July 3 and Sept. 5-6 — and he doesn’t anticipate more.
He wants to keep expenses down for the racers and the spectators, something that wouldn’t happen with a weekly series. “If I’m going to spend $20 to $30 a weekend, I can’t do that every week,” Tim, Sr. said. “I can do that once a month and see a real good show and take my family.”
Tim Sr. isn’t limiting the use of the speedway to just dirt track racing. He hopes to bring in other events, such as concerts, rodeos, off-road racing and church gatherings to take advantage of the facilities. He also will run some special events for go-kart racers.
“We have the racetrack,” he said. “We’d like to use it for something really good if we can.”
He does have lofty long-term goals for the facility, pointing to an Ohio track run by a current NASCAR great as an example. Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway is recognized as one of the top dirt tracks in the country.
“I would try to make this — in perspective and a credit to Tony Stewart — the Eldora of the East,” Tim Sr. said. “It’s going to take a little bit, but so far people are giving me good reviews on wanting to come here. … If everything falls in line and you do it right, people will want to come here. It’s going to take work, but I’ve done that forever.”