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Tri-County Motor Speedway  Hires Short Track Veteran as New Manager

Joe Lewandoski, a veteran of 17 years in the auto racing industry, was hired on Friday, November 9^th to become the new General Manager at Tri County Motor Speedway in Hudson, North Carolina.  Lewandoski will officially start work at the speedway on Monday, December 3^rd.

 “We are so excited about bringing Joe on board at Tri County” stated Tony Casola, who along with his wife Kim own Tri County. “We have interviewed so many people over the past few months, and when Joe contacted us, we immediately knew he would be the right man for the job! Joe genuinely cares about the success of the track and we hope this will be a long and fruitful relationship.”

Lewandoski has operated NASCAR Sanction short tracks throughout his career, including Tri-Cities Raceway (West Richland, Washington), Riverside Park Speedway (Agawam, Massachusetts), The Waterford Speedbowl (Waterford, Connecticut), Wall Township Speedway (Wall, New Jersey), and Lake Erie Speedway (Erie, Pennsylvania). In fact, the Casola’s son Dominick, an ARCA series driver, had the privilege of working with Lewandoski when he was a novice racer in the truck division at Wall Township Speedway. “ Joe was great to work with- he was fair and got the job done and I’m sure he will get the job done here” said the young man.

Tri County Motor Speedway’s owners have been in contact with NASCAR about the possibility of becoming a member of the NASCAR Whelan All-American Series. Currently, the 4/10 mile asphalt track, located just 15 miles Northwest of Hickory, North Carolina, hosts races every Friday night during the summer racing season.

"“I feel very fortunate to work for Kim and Tony, because they know the business from both sides of the fence, as a car owner and a track owner,” said Lewandoski. “My first two priorities will be to put together a first class track officiating team, and meet with drivers of all the classes that competed at Tri- County in 2007.”

Tri County will continue to run the headlining class of Late Model stock cars with several other support divisions. “I am presently in contact with all of the traveling racing series in the area to see what series makes economic sense to put on the 2008 schedule,” said Lewandoski.  ”The 2008 schedule will tentatively start in April and end Labor Day weekend.”

Lewandoski plans to work together with Hickory Motor Speedway, a nearby asphalt short track. “I am looking forward to meeting and working together with Hickory Motor Speedway and Hickory’s track operator Sherry Clifton.  Hickory, being only 15 miles Southeast of Tri County, is a Saturday night facility and it only makes sense to work together since Tri County is a Friday night track.”

Over the last 15 years, Tri County has had some veteran faces in motorsports operate the speedway. Individuals like Russell Hackett, Randy Myers, and  Jimmy Wilson have all been involved in the speedway's operations. “I feel it is an honor and a privilege to follow in the footsteps of these quality motorsport operators.”

Lewandoski’s goals are to put more cars on the track to attract better crowds. “During my three year tenure at Lake Erie Speedway, I helped build the car count from 60 cars per night to 100 cars per night, greatly helping the speedway’s attendance,” said Lewandoski. “My hopes are to have similar results here at Tri County, as I strongly feel that car count has a direct relationship to event attendance. With hard work and some support from competitors, I hope to put on an exciting stock car show that both fans and competitors can enjoy.”

For further information about Tri County, and the up and coming 2008 season, please visit www.tricountymotorspeedway.com  or call Joe at 732-320-5463, or the speedway office at 828-726-6600.

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