Lauterborn Era Set to Begin at Genesee Speedway

 

By Dave Sully

 

(Rochester, NY)  After considerable speculation and rumors of closure, following the ouster of Dave McCready and Al Graham as promoters at Genesee Speedway, located at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY, the fair board has accepted a lease proposal from long time sprint car racer and businessman from Rochester, Mike Lauterborn, to operate the facility.   The highly respected Lauterborn has promised a complete facelift for the staid facility, which has fallen into disrepair in recent years and has endured considerable criticism of track conditions, which have made some racers reluctant to compete there.  Lauterborn has made a major commitment, opting for a five year lease, renewable for another five years, giving the facility the stability it needs for Lauterborn to facilitate the changes he believes are needed to upgrade the speedway to the highest standards.

 

With a number of tracks available for the right price, the fifty-eight year old Lauterborn, who has been interested in operating a race track for the last five years, explained why he pursued Genesee, noting, “It’s got a great location.  You’re a half hour between everywhere.  Buffalo is a half hour away.  Rochester is a half mile away.  There is a great fan base in the middle of a city (Batavia).”

 

“I’ve been thinking about what my next step in racing involvement was going to be for about five years.  Would I just kind of fizzle off into the sunset or go into something that, I think, is exciting?  It’s a huge challenge.  I asked Dave McCready (most recent Genesee promoter) years ago if he needed any help and nothing came of it.  I was working at Lime Rock Speedway when I got the idea that that I might want to own a race track.  Nothing materialized there, but then I got a call from Rick Newton saying that something was going to happen at Genesee this year and your name came up as a promoter. I made a few phone calls, and got myself on the list of people interested.  I’ve been working on this for three or four months now.  It finally came to be on Monday, December 4^th at the fair board meeting.”

 

Lauterborn indicated that he is in the process of putting together his team to operate the track.  Some former employees will be retained, but there will be a lot of new faces as well.  Key among the retainees will be Jeff Anstett, who brings a wealth of experience from his duties at Genesee, Ransomville (where he is the race director) and Humberstone (where he is the pit steward).  Johnny Veach will be returning as the chief flagger, along with backstretch flagger Mike Blaine.  Lauterborn’s former crew chief Bill Alhart will be the new race director.  He will fill the rest of the positions from racing acquaintances, who have already heard about his acquisition.

 

Lauterborn intends to retain the five divisions that the track has been running, the sportsman modifieds, super stocks, pro stocks, street stocks and mini-stocks.  Of particular interest to local drivers is the retention of the pro stocks, which are under siege in the area and have been dropped by Ransomville, the nearest track which ran the class.  He is optimistic that some of the Ransomville cars will come to Genesee, and between the Genesee cars and Ransomville cars he can have a decent weekly field.  He considers 15 to 24 a viable car count for the pro stocks.

 

A main criticism of the facility has been the track itself, and Lauterborn is not operating under any delusions.  He has heard it all, and plans a major overhaul.  He explained, “I am going to reconfigure the track, get rid of the tires (implement tires that mark the inside of the track), get rid of the scales and clean it up.  That will be the first thing I’ll attack, as soon as I can get on it.”

 

Regarding the facility itself, he added, “There isn’t one nut and bolt that hasn’t got to be painted or something at this place.  Everything needs serious attention, including the pit fence, hot dog stand, and bathrooms.  I’m going through everything.  I’m going to have to put new grandstands in to meet the legal standards.”  Obviously, Rome wasn’t built in a day and these changes will take time.  He observed, “I’ve got a three year program.  I told the fair board that it’s going to take three years to get this done.  This will be a total facelift, and hopefully I’m going to do as much as I this winter.  Some things are going to slip because I’m not going to get this place probably until next year before the contract is signed and I get the keys.  Though nothing has been signed as of yet, there seems to be no doubt that the changing of the guard will take place and Lauterborn’s ambitious plans can be commenced.

 

Lauterborn looks forward to being decidedly hands-on when it comes to the work.  He explained, “I’m not the guy who’s going to be up in the tower directing the traffic.  I’m going to be the guy running around and fixing the fence, throwing the toilet paper on the racks, and mowing the lawn.  I’ll be doing all that, and putting out all the fires.  That’s what I enjoy.”

 

Under the topic of operations, Lauterborn wanted to emphasize that Genesee would continue to run on Saturday nights, despite rumors to the contrary and that Genesee will also remain under the DIRT banner, with  DIRT sanctioning the sportsman and the pro stocks. He also noted that transponders would be in use as well as one way radios, both of which will enhance the program.  “I want to keep things moving.  I hate to see things dragging,” he declared.

 

Another area that Lauterborn intends to aggressively address is conduct.  Genesee has gotten the reputation as a place where drivers take out their frustrations on the track and in the pits in the form of fisticuffs and he intends to stop that in its tracks.  He explained, “I’m going to start a code of conduct.  There is nothing in the rule book about conduct.  I’ve got a local judge here, who can be the head of security. In forty years of racing, I’ve never seen a fight and Genesee is loaded with them.  I’ve got to blame part of it on track conditions.  I think if I give the guys a good track to race on where they don’t have to bang and shove, that will eliminate at least 75% of the fighting.  I’m getting a list of the guys that have had the most problems and I’m going to have a heart to heart talk with every one of them.  They can always go somewhere else to race.  I’m not afraid of kicking a guy out and saying, ‘Find another track.’”

 

Being a racer isn’t always a key to being able to run a race track, but Lauterborn is also a highly successful businessman and it is that experience from which he will draw to operate Genesee.  He noted, “I’m a businessman before I’m a racer.  I have three businesses.  That’s important.  I’m not a rookie going in there and thinking I can run this thing.  I have people in place to handle the books.  I’ve been in business for thirty years.”  Lauterborn is an electrical contractor, owns an electrical supply house- Gates Electrical Supply, and is also a building contractor and land developer, thus giving him expertise and also resources from which to draw. 

 

It would appear from his observations that Mike Lauterborn has his feet planted firmly on the ground, knows what needs to be fixed and is well on his way to having a plan in place to resurrect the sagging fortunes of Genesee Speedway.