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October 11, 2008

DHK finishes first year promoting Action Track

By David Hughes

TERRE HAUTE — When DHK Promotions LLC signed a three-year contract in February to take over promotional rights for the Terre Haute Action Track, the only direction it could go was up.

Wabash Valley racing fans don’t need to be reminded how disastrous 2007 was at the Action Track under the direction of previous promoter Dave Allison, so anybody new in charge would have been considered a welcome change.

DHK Promotions — originally consisting of former major-league baseball player and Terre Haute car dealership owner Brian Dorsett, longtime racing broadcaster and former WTHI-TV sports director Mike King and Indy Racing League driver Davey Hamilton — announced in February its 2008 schedule that included six events.

Because of a Sept. 12 rainout, that schedule was merged into five dates. Following the Oct. 4 season-ending card that featured the First Financial Bank Hut Hundred for U.S. Auto Club midget cars, DHK Promotions described its first year as a success, although the partners realize they’ll need to continue adding improvements and satisfy paying customers during gloomy economic times.

“I think in all, it was a very successful year,” Dorsett assessed. “Going forward, the sponsors are key for us. Keeping those sponsors, making it better for them, is very important.”

“I wouldn’t call it spectacular,” King reflected. “We ran six events over five dates. I’d say we got a nice vote of confidence from local race fans… There’s still a lot of room for improvement. All we did was get the track back on its feet.”

In separate interviews with the Tribune-Star last week, King and Dorsett addressed some of the issues DHK Promotions faced in 2008:

n NASCAR driver J.J. Yeley no-showing Hut Hundred after being advertised to appear — “J.J. had entered the race,” Dorsett explained.

“There was no indication from USAC or J.J. Yeley that he would not show up. For USAC to send out a press release [promoting Yeley’s appearance] and J.J. Yeley not to show, that really disappointed USAC.”

Dorsett said USAC officials learned on the afternoon of the event that Yeley would not appear. For the record, Yeley raced a sprint car that night at Lawrenceburg.

“There’s not much we could do,” King added. “I know I got a copy of his entry in the mail. I was told the day of the race that he would not be here.”

n Small fields for two events — Although the Hut Hundred starting field usually consists of 33 cars, only 22 were available Oct. 4.

“We were very disappointed by the car count,” King admitted. “For there to be 22 cars for a 33-car field, it left Davey dumbfounded.”

King pointed out that the 2008 Sumar Classic, also sanctioned by USAC, had a smaller field than usual as well.

“That is a problem we are addressing ongoing,” King insisted.

n No “Race to Recover” on Oct. 4 — King said he started spreading the word around a few days before Oct. 4 that the previously publicized “Race to Recover” charity race had to be canceled because of scheduling conflicts for several nationally known drivers. It had been postponed from the Sept. 12 card, which got rained out.

“We have a lot of commitments for next year,” King promised. “We just have to find the right date for it. We want this to become a big deal.”

“Next year, we want to build off that commitment from the drivers we had [for 2008] and we actually want to make it more special,” Dorsett mentioned. “Yes, we’re hoping next year to have a celebrity event.”

n Hut Hundred ending a few minutes before midnight — Even before Allison’s term with the Action Track started, a complaint often heard about the half-mile dirt oval was that races ended too late for families making long trips to Terre Haute.

For the most part, DHK Promotions avoided that problem in 2008, although 17-year-old Cole Whitt didn’t take the checkered flag as winner of the Hut Hundred until about 11:55 p.m. Oct. 4. A 20-lap Monster Energy Drink Modifield Classic feature (originally part of the rained-out Sept. 12 card), plus heat races, took place earlier that night.

“This past Saturday was simply a matter of the amount of racing we had,” King noted. “We kind of expected to run a little bit later than usual.”

“I thought both races went off pretty smoothly,” Dorsett said. “What we have to realize is we had two things happen. Even though the Modifieds did a wonderful job, the [Modifieds] feature did have a lot more yellows. But that’s just because they were racing hard. And then we had an interruption in terms of a delay before the start of the midgets feature [Hut Hundred], because we wanted to make some improvements to the track… Add to that, we had a race stoppage at 75 laps, which was ordered by USAC [so drivers could refuel during what was originally a yellow caution period]. That cost us probably 20 minutes.”

As one might guess, dealing with these situations — which often pop up unexpectedly — can lead to premature gray hairs for promoters.

“I don’t think you ever really know what you’re getting into when you become a promoter for the first time,” Dorsett acknowledged. “Now that I’m a promoter, it gives me an idea of what I can look for or expect in terms of glitches that might come along the way.”

Despite the occasional glitches, Dorsett and King found time to smile over what they had accomplished wit h the help of dozens of others.

Dorsett credited Chris Novotney (who became the fourth partner in DHK Promotions after the season started), Tim Wolfe and volunteers for working on track preparation all season.

“I thought they did a remarkable job for the first year,” Dorsett said. “Because of what we’ve learned, we will now be able to make these shows move along even smoother.”

King and Dorsett mentioned countless others — please believe they wanted every single name listed in this story, but space limitations prevent it — who helped keep the prestigious Action Track alive for racing fans throughout the Midwest.

“Spectators love the fact that the Terre Haute Action Track is back,” Dorsett emphasized. “They love the improvements. And I want to say ‘thank you’ to the fans in a huge way, because without them, this thing doesn’t happen. Without our great sponsors, it doesn’t happen.”

King said the biggest crowd was about 4,000 fans for the Tony Hulman Classic sprint-car feature May 22. “We had very consistent crowds, given the smallest was probably about 2,500,” he added.

Looking ahead to 2009, Dorsett and King predict racing will be hotter than it’s been in recent memory at the Action Track.

“I think, all in all, we now have a platform to build on for next year to hopefully have a couple more races, maybe more than a couple, if everything lines up perfectly,” Dorsett said. “Maybe seven or eight total.”

“Clearly, our fans in this area enjoy sprint-car racing,” King pointed out. “The midgets drew fairly well too.”

King said he’d like to put on a Modifieds-only card and see how that goes over with the fans.

As for the World of Outlaws, well, don’t hold your breath. King said the large amount of money the Outlaws want up front “is not feasible,” especially considering the Outlaws don’t guarantee rain dates.

King added that DHK Promotions would need to raise ticket prices to bring in the Outlaws, which he said was probably not worth it, considering the group already had rolled back prices to late-1990s levels in 2008.

Still, King hasn’t slammed the door shut on the possibility of the Outlaws returning to Terre Haute. He’s willing to negotiate with the Outlaws if they’re willing to compromise on a deal.

Dorsett mentioned Late Models and motorcycles as other possible Action Track attractions in 2009.

If DHK Promotions’ partners maintain their high energy level and dedication to Valley racing fans, can they return the Action Track to its glory days of the 1960s and 1970s?

“I think we’re really close,” Dorsett said. “This year, I think we were able to bring it back as much as possible.

“I was going to those races when I was 11, 12, 13 years old [in the 1970s]. My dad [Larry] took me. Back in the day, he had an old push truck from Dorsett Auto Sales and we went down in the pits and I’ll never forget we pushed out Gary Bettenhausen on a Sunday. He ended up winning the race. So we were in the pits. We were around it. We were watching it. As a kid who grew up loving the action on dirt, I knew what it felt like there.

“I was one of those fans who sat in the stands. I know what fans look for and want and we’re trying to bring that, as much as possible, back to the forefront. It’s not going to happen overnight, but we want it to be better than it’s ever been.”

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