Drag Illustrated Issue 150, November 2019 | Page 54

DIALED IN
tune, followed by the main event on Saturday.
They took Sunday off as they typically do at Elk
Creek and returned on Monday for a special Foot-
brake race, which yielded a surprising 96 entries.
“Between other classes we had 160 cars here on a
Monday,” Shinault exclaims.
Saturday’s main event was described as the
largest crowd they’ve had in years. “The Killer
Street car deal went over really well,” Shinault
says, “so maybe that’s something we’ll have 2-3
times next season.”
Elk Creek’s core audience remains its bracket
program, which hosted a staggering 26 points
races in 2019, or at least that’s how many were
scheduled. “We’re going to take a look at the
amount of bracket races that’s being scheduled,”
Shinault says. “People have always said that if
it’s not a points race, people won’t show up, but
I don’t know if that’s true anymore. People have
changed and racing has changed. Besides that,
it’s gotten so expensive that maybe we should
schedule a week off every now and then, espe-
cially since the standard seems to be around 12-14
events per season.”
Shinault is completely open to trying new
things at Elk Creek in an effort to expand inter-
est. They’ve discussed no-prep in 2020, which
will likely happen, as well as two-day big-money
bracket races scheduled on Sat-Sun. “We don’t
typically race here on Sundays, but we might
schedule several two-day events once or twice
a year max.”
Per usual the entertaining Stick Shift Cham-
pionship series visits Elk Creek monthly, and
remains a fan favorite attraction. “About once
a month we also do 5.90, 6.90 and 7.90 index
racing in conjunction with our bracket program.”
Shinault is also a huge believer in the future of
the sport, as it relates to the Jr. Dragster classes.
“My son went all the way through that program
so it’s something that’s dear to me. Those kids
build relationships within that class that no other
sport provides.”
Shinault suspects that rekindling interest in
the track isn’t just limited to the recent revival of
Killer Street, as he’s also entertaining the thoughts
of bringing back some of those classic Super Stock
match races that Elk Creek was famous for in
decades past.
Another area of improvement Shinault wanted
to tackle is the time it takes to complete a race.
“We’ve really picked up the pace on getting a race
done,” he says. “There’s no dead time, we’re run-
ning cars constantly. I’ve got great personnel, they
stuck with me all year and they’re dependable.”
One more focus in 2019 has been upgrading
the facility. “Honestly, we haven’t spent tons
of money, but a gallon of paint goes a long wa,”
Shinault believes. “We also redid the bathrooms,
including a baby changing station in the ladies’
room. We try to make it really friendly for the
spectator, because at the end of the day that’s
where any money we make comes from. Specta-
tors won’t come unless they’ve got a nice facility
where they can come see a race and see the end
of it, and hopefully enjoy themselves so they’ll
come back.”
Good fortune continued to fall into place for
Elk Creek in the form of sponsorships, which
sharply increased in 2019. Mike Walters has been
involved with the track for many years, and re-
cently took over much of the maintenance and
promotions, where he brought in many new spon-
sors this season. “We had to build new sign hold-
ers for our sponsor billboards because we had so
many sponsors this year and it has really helped
out the track,” concludes Shinault.
Elk Creek Dragway is IHRA sanctioned and
typically operates April through November.
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