Without September NASCAR, What’s Next for NHMS?

As all New Hampshire and other NASCAR fans are aware, New Hampshire Motor Speedway lost its September race, starting in the 2018 season. The race has been moved to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for various reasons.

The September race at NHMS was a large tourist attraction and helped with the seasonal race track’s financial health and New Hampshire’s economy as well. Governor Sununu pitched the sport loss as an opportunity for the race track to seek out other events. Some businesses and enthusiasts are concerned, however. The track had enjoyed two races, the other being held in July, for more than twenty years. Without a hiccup in these events for two decades, this blow to the track will be substantial, and it raises the questions of what will takes its place and how other events will be effected.

Doors could open for small-time local racing. Although Loudon, New Hampshire receives the full brunt of the northeastern winters, the motorsport community is very strong. We could see more availability for these events being welcomed to the parking lots, and hopefully use of the main track at a reasonable rate as well. NHMS has always allowed a large variation of motorsports to be held at the speedway. Being a participant in events and media coverage, I’ve never seen the track let anyone down, hosting lot events that range from car shows and autocross to a pumpkin distance shooting event in some of the dirt locations. Some racing clubs can cross their fingers in being allowed on track sometime soon.

NASCAR as an entity has been on a decline the past few years. Failing to adapt to today’s younger crowd and social media presence. NASCAR has felt big TV ratings hits that are even catching the eyes of television partners such as NBC. The sport is struggling to advertise its events and any sort of rivalry competition. With other motorsports and their drivers having such a huge social media presence and fan base, the new advertising medium is proving to be a thorn in NASCAR’s side. The sport is also having some nervous moments as long-time sponsor Sprint threw in the towel. Although Monster Energy Drinks promptly replaced Sprint, the situation left the organization shaken and surprised.

We hope NHMS lands on its feet in 2018, even with the loss of the September NASCAR race, by using 2017 to recruit a jam-packed 2018 season. Looking to the future, 2018 could possibly see some other rising sports like Formula Drift and stadium truck racing come to Loudon. The avenues NHMS could take are endless and we will be reporting on any changes for the track this year.

Written by Nick Iosua.

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