NASCAR sanctioning boosts interest in Jennerstown Speedway as track preps to open season

May 14—JENNERSTOWN, Pa. — As Jennerstown Speedway Complex is set to open its 2022 campaign on Saturday, track General Manager Bill Hribar is experiencing a mathematical issue that anyone in his shoes would be glad to have approaching a summer of racing.

"We have approximately 90 pit stalls on the main surface of the pit area," Hribar said. "We have 112 drivers looking for spots. It's an incredible problem to have. It's really exciting."

That spark in driver interest was apparent at the facility's first practice day on April 23 as 66 drivers took part with Hribar said that they hadn't seen more than 30 drivers show up for practice days beforehand.

Hribar said that 44 trekked to the Somerset County oval on April 30 for the final tune-up before live racing.

That juiced-up buzz around the track has led to the speedway administration needing to abbreviate its offseason.

"You always have a little bit of an offseason," Hribar said. "This year, we really didn't have an offseason. Everybody's pulling in the same direction and working harder that we ever had before to make this season happen. (April 23) was such a sense of relief, pride and enjoyment to see that kind of turnout for just a practice day."

As the track's turnstiles clicked 131,000 times in 2021 for the weekly races and other events — such as car shows — hosted at Jennerstown Speedway, Hribar's belief that "timing is everything" helped make NASCAR's return as a sanctioning body at the track a sensical move.

"We have considered being NASCAR before, but the timing just wasn't right for us," he said.

"Coming off of COVID and having such a successful 2021 season, after looking at what was available to us through NASCAR and how it benefited not only the speedway but the drivers, the timing was definitely now."

As the GM noted, race fans and fortunate weather luck made 2021 a successful campaign by showing up in droves as COVID-19 attendance restrictions were eased throughout Pennsylvania.

"I think with everyone being cooped up so much in 2020, they just wanted to get out and experience things again, and Mother Nature was our biggest fan," Hribar said. "When you have a combination of people who want to get out and do things, great weather and putting on an excellent racing program, it just made the perfect combination."

Rain, however, pushed back the start of this season's slate, which was supposed to start May 7.

Flying under the NASCAR flag for the first time since 2008, the speed plant has also seen its regional footprint grow in terms of how far drivers will travel to be part of the Saturday action.

"It opens up a lot of opportunities by racing under that NASCAR banner," Hribar said.

"Almost immediately we saw a response, not only from drivers, but sponsors. It's a proud thing to be able to say that you're affiliated with NASCAR.

"NASCAR is seeing a huge resurgence. Their viewership on TV is up 20%, which is incredible. People are paying attention to what is going on in NASCAR again. We have a really successful thing going at Jennerstown, and it's just going to be a great partnership moving forward."

Even better for the speedway was that pushing the racetrack and facility up to NASCAR's standards was not a worry.

"Fortunately for us, we meet or exceed all of those benchmarks," Hribar said. "I don't want to say that we're going to be the poster child for NASCAR, but that's our goal."

'Something for everybody'

Maintaining the fan experience to win over new visitors and keeping everyone coming back is also a key bullet point for Jennerstown in 2022. As Hribar explained, it's about knowing what works.

"We try to make every week enjoyable for fans of all ages," he said. "Whether you're a die-hard race fan or a casual fan, we'll try to have the playground open for the kids every week. We try to do some things that are interactive: Giveaways, handouts, little competitions. We're going to have both autograph nights this year. We started doing two autograph nights a couple of seasons ago and it was very well-received.

"We have a great card of racing on hand for the die-hard race fans. We've got everything from the Whelen Modified Tour (May 28) to sprint cars (Aug. 27), super modifieds (June 11), super late models (June 4). It is literally the schedule that if you're a race fan, you will have something for everybody on here."

In April, it was announced that a majority of Jennerstown's racing events will be available for streaming on FloRacing.com — a paid streaming service. According to the track chief, Jenners- town is now among elite company within the NASCAR weekly series tracks.

"There are 51 NASCAR tracks in the United States, they only chose 12 tracks to feature on FloRacing this year and Jennerstown was one of them," Hribar said. "We're really excited to livestream the races on a weekly basis on FloSports, which is probably the leading streaming service for racing in the world."

Getting its start in the 1920s, Jennerstown and Hribar are aware of the tightrope walk involved with maintaining the track's roots while also moving things forward.

It also means that it's more than just Hribar at the wheel when the lights turn on each week.

"On Saturday nights, there's 78 employees at Jennerstown Speedway," Hribar said. "It takes everybody and anyone. I think the key is don't become complacent. We learn from what we do.

"We continue to move forward. We're going to try to keep Jennerstown moving."

It also means that credit shouldn't always go to the GM's desk, as he pointed out.

"No. 1, you've got to surround yourself with great people," Hribar said. "I'm very blessed to have a remarkable group of three owners that pretty much give me the leeway to do what needs to be done to make the speedway successful.

"I have a great staff underneath me. A lot of times, people like to pass the accolades my way, but not everything is my idea and it's nothing without the execution of our amazing concession staff and our wonderful officials."

Shawn Curtis is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5085. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnCurtis430.