Labonte unveils plans for quarter midget facility

SALISBURY, N.C. -- The NASCAR community has long prided itself on the family appeal of the sport. On Tuesday, 2000 Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte unveiled a proposed addition to the family-oriented dynamic: the first quarter midget racing venue in North Carolina.

Labonte, with members of the North Carolina Quarter Midget Association and members of the Rowan County (N.C.) Board of Commissioners, made public plans to build a state-of-the-art racing facility in Salisbury, N.C.

	Bobby Labonte Credit: Autostock

"There's a lot of racing in North Carolina, but there isn't specifically any quarter midget racing," said Labonte, whose eight-year-old son Tyler aspires to race quarter midgets in the near future.

Quarter midget racing events are held nationwide at venues as large as Indianapolis Motor Speedway and as small as a neighbor's back yard. And while there are more than 60 permanent sanctioned quarter midget tracks around the country, none are located in the greater Charlotte, N.C., area.

Labonte took it upon himself to change that, and assure that his son had ample opportunity to hone his racing skills.

"The closest quarter midget tracks are either located near Atlanta or all the way up in the Pennsylvania or New Jersey areas," Labonte said. "Even though there is a lot of racing going on, there is current nothing like this within the North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia area."

Labonte's decision to construct the track -- a project with no start date or completion goal yet -- is his way of giving back to the sport that has offered him so much. Work is still to be done on the budgeting aspect of the project, but Labonte isn't overly concerned with cost.

"We don't really know (cost) yet, we don't really care," he said. "It's kind of a deal where we're going to do the best we can to build it efficiently. We have an idea, but we're trying to get that cut down a little bit. It's going to cost us more than we ever think, I'm sure, like everything else does.

"And I'm involved in it, so it'll cost me more than I ever thought it would. It might have to be done in a couple phases, get the track built first and go after the rest of it after that."

When seeking the proper location, accessibility was crucial. A 25-acre lot on the grounds of the Rowan County National Guard Armory, just off Interstate 85 in Salisbury, was the perfect niche.

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"What we have done today is just make everything official and hopefully get people in the area excited about it," Labonte said. "The members of the board and everyone we have dealt with as we have moved through this process have been terrific.

"They understand our vision for this facility and have partnered with us to make it a reality."

The facility will include a 1/20th-mile track, tech buildings, a fuel building, an infield care center, restrooms and grandstands complete with suites and concessions.

"Rowan County is honored that Bobby Labonte and his organization have chosen our community to be the home for the first quarter midget racing facility in this area," said Steve Blount, chairman for the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.

"This is a family activity that offers good, clean fun not only to the youngsters racing the cars, but to the family members offering support. We welcome all of the NASCAR families and friends to Rowan County and look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with everyone involved in this endeavor."

Several NASCAR drivers were on hand Tuesday to assist Labonte in the unveiling: Tony Stewart, Dave Blaney and Ryan Newman, a two-time national quarter midget champion and member of the national quarter midget hall of fame. Each of these drivers, like Labonte, is a quarter midget alumnus.

"This is a great family sport, one I started in when I was four years old," Newman said. "Whether its T-ball or ballerina lessons, your family starts you in it and you either decide to do it or not.

"We traveled everywhere together, and it's that family aspect that makes it a success. We raced on weekends, but during the week we worked on the cars. It's just great for the family."

"Like Ryan said, it's the family aspect that's the number one thing here," Stewart said. "By the time I was 16 I'd seen 32 states. I'd skip school on Friday, which was a trade off. My mom didn't like that I had to miss school, but seeing the country through auto racing was a good trade off, one she could deal with."

Labonte started his career on an old runway, on a makeshift track constructed by his father, Bob, out of fence posts and hay bales. To him, this will be the Daytona International Speedway of quarter midget tracks.

"It's as perfect as you could get, right now," said Labonte, whose older brother Terry also got his racing start in quarter midgets. "It's a big community thing. My vision is that it could be big enough to where we could put up some lights, race one night during the week, and they could race on Saturday or Sunday without us.

"It could be a two-deal thing. It's not only drivers that have kids that want to do this. There's tons and tons of crew members who have kids that want to race, too."

And they're good, too.

"Look, I'm a Winston Cup driver and I was getting my butt kicked by a bunch of eight-year-old kids," said Stewart, who raced some youngsters at the unveiling of Little New Smyrna Speedway, Mark Martin's Florida quarter midget track. "These are future Winston Cup champions, here."