Plymouth Indiana going back to asphalt

[NeedforLM$peed]

Going back to asphalt after 9 yrs being dirt.

[JimBo]

I have never seen that work out for the track.

[HoosierDirtFan]

Old news.....
Other tracks will pick up the car count though.

[ride height]

Don’t know anything about Plymouth Indiana, never been there. All I know is, every track that’s went to asphalt that I’ve seen, was the kiss of death.

[kidrock]

Does anyone know why they're going back to asphalt. Did they not make as being a dirt track. Low car counts, fan base?

[lurker]

Nathan will know for sure. Clean out your PM box too kidrock.

[hoosier race fan]

Plymouth was pavement for many years before converting to dirt 9 years ago. Now they are taking up the dirt on the bigger track and running it as pavement again starting in 2022. They have really struggled with getting a crowd. They’ve tried big shows and touring series (WoO, USAC, Summer Nationals, All Stars), and none could seem to draw a big crowd. They invested a ton of money in new grandstands and some facility upgrades.

It’s a shame because it is a nice facility. It’s tough to pull the very loyal fans and racers that attend tracks like Shadyhill, Montpelier, and Butler on Saturday nights, plus you have Gas City, Kankakee, Hartford, and Kokomo that race on Fridays or Sundays. There aren’t many people who can go 2 or 3 nights a weekend, and Plymouth just hasn’t built a regular following. The track has not been very racy in the 5 or 6 times I have been there. Track prep the first few years of dirt was not very good, and they were always working to overcome that reputation. I think they had good intentions and were willing to take risks to make it work, it just didn’t.

[lurker]

Thanks, hoosier race fan.

[HoosierDirtFan]

Track was pavement for most of its life.
Track went dirt an the end of 2012.
It’s first full season as a dirt track was 2013.
The last few years it was a pavement track the car counts whee bad.
The first few years it was a dirt track the car counts where good.
The last few years we all learned the owner was a good guy but the race director & a few other people are a little two faced @$$es.
The folks that leased it this year also own the South Bend Motor Speedway which has been some what successful since they took over it.
They made the decision to purchase the track from owner and former ARCA driver Ed Kennedy (owns the Daytona Beach boardwalk).
They are also a little bit two faced IMO.
Said earlier in the year the track would never go back to being pavement on the tracks Facebook page and here we are no going back to being an asphalt track.
Back in the 1980’s the track had a great car count.
In the mid 2000’s the car counts started to drop and that was when they made the switch to dirt.
It’s a shame because it’s a first class facility from top to bottom and clean.
Seen some decent races there and some not so good races there.
Track surface had a sandy consistency to it which made it very dustbin hot days.
They put new clay on it a few times and which was good.
At least they tried and put in the effort.
I think the track was miss managed to an extent.
They had their good days and bad days.
There where a few time they had a good field of cars in all 5 classes and I was still home by 10:00pm and that’s with an hour drive.
Track had a ton of potential.
Only down side the pit area was kind of small.
The past few years there was some favoritism from staff to drivers IMO.
We will see what the new folks can do with it as a pavement track again.