MIKE ATHEY
LUSKVILLE Nov. 18, 2020
A racetrack in Luskville is undergoing a massive renovation effort following a successful operating season.
Workers at the Luskville Dragway spent the last few weeks pouring new concrete for a new track that is planned to be ready for the 2021 racing season.
Much of the old site was cleared away to . . .
make way for the new improved site.
“We’re taking the track from the 1990s to the 2030s,” said owner Arnie Malcolm.
He said the new racetrack would place it on par with other major racetracks and allow more programming to come to Luskville.
Despite initial worries that COVID-19 could have a major impact on this year’s racing season, Malcolm said it may have benefitted them in the end.
Early on they were forced to shut down and in March Malcolm feared the year would be a loss. Eventually they reopened and as the season went on, people kept turning up.
“Because there was nowhere else to go,” Malcolm said.
He was also thankful to the advertisers who supported them through this time. Many continued to pay even while the track was shut down and dealing with their own financial problems.
“When we weren’t open some of them said, ‘Why aren’t you sending us invoices?’” said Malcolm.
He told them that he wasn’t going to charge them if they weren’t open to which some advertisers volunteered their money anyway and said, “You still have bills to pay.”
The racetrack, which Malcolm said they’ve been running for over 40 years draws in much of the local community. He joked that they refer to it often as The Cottage, because like a lakeside cabin it’s “where we go one the weekend.”
