Kearns takes common sense approach to Santa Maria Speedway

June 19, 9:58 AMSprint & Midget Car Racing ExaminerRichard Manfredi

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Image credit: Santa Maria Speedway

For many fans on the West Coast, Chris Kearns has been doing some big-time things in his first year promoting Santa Maria Speedway, excelling in finding innovative ways to promote their races and keep fans and drivers happy. But in Kearns’ mind, he’s not doing anything special.

“To tell you the truth, most of comes down to common sense,” he said. “I don’t think I’m doing anything special. I’m just working hard and using common sense, and that’s about all I can say.”

Some of these “common sense” promotional ideas have been getting Santa Maria Speedway noticed as he attempts to turn the track around. Some of them are straightforward PR, such as making himself and drivers available for local TV and radio appearances before big races. And other ideas involve getting involved in the community, such as having 30 cars on display at a local mall before the start of the season.

“We had a car show at the mall,” he said. “It was free to me – it didn’t cost me anything for promotion, and it did a few things. It got new people to see the cars up close, it got existing fans excited about the upcoming season, and it even was exciting for the racers. We got about 30 cars in the mall, and it was something that had never been done before so people were kind of excited.”

Kearns, the former promoter of the Western Allstars Super Dirt Late Model series, took over the track last year when the lease became available, which led to a court battle with the previous track promoter. But now that he’s running the track, Kearns said that he has two philosophies that guide everything he does.

“One is that racers are customers, so they are always treated with respect, no matter what the situation,” he said. “The second philosophy is that racing is entertainment, it’s not just about putting cars on the race track, so I try to make it a whole night of fun for everyone.”

This can include having a dunk tank for charity on the track grounds. Or keeping the lights on and music going after the races (and the beer stands open) to encourage people to go to the pits, hang out and keep the good time going. One of the unique things Kearns does is give out two trophies to race winners – one for the driver, and the other for the driver to give away to a young fan.

“I kind of go overboard, I love big trophies,” he said. “When Danny Sheridan won a 360 race, said to me ‘Chris, that might be the biggest trophy I ever won.’ And I thought ‘Oh come on.” But they’re over four feet tall. I really get a kick out of watching a kid who might be three feet tall carrying a four foot tall trophy.”

So far, Kearns has seen positive results from his efforts; attendance is on the rise, as are car counts. While taking over a race track might seem like a suicidal mission in these economic times, Kearns’ gamble might pay off yet.

“I think my obstacle is getting people to the track for the first time and try and get them hooked,” he said. “Once you get them in there, and show them a good time, they tell their friends and the word of mouth spreads.”