Racetrack's new owners embrace ambitious plans

BENTON, Mo. -- The traffic through the front door of the 77 Market told store owner David Flynn what he's waited to hear for three years.

The racetrack across the road was open again.

"Our shelves were pretty much picked clean the weekend they opened," Flynn said. "My wife didn't even think the track would have an impact on us, but it's been good. It's good for a lot of us here."

The new owners of the Auto Tire and Parts Racepark want to make it even better.

Doug Friese, the head of a five-person group that bought the former Missouri International Racepark and renamed it in December, already has laid out big plans that could transform the 3/8-mile circle track and 1/8-mile drag strip into a 59-acre motorsports complex.

"The ultimate goal is to make this the place to go if you want to see any form of racing," Friese said. "We're in it for the long haul. For now we just want to get the basics going smoothly."

The track opened in 1991 to sellout crowds of more than 5,000 fans. Construction company owners Earl and Keith Simpson had built "the crown jewel of Midwest auto racing," one sanctioning group's president said, marveling at the track's ample lighting, spacious concession areas and towering aluminum grandstand seating. Crowds and cars poured in from surrounding states each weekend from April to October.

But when the Simpson family decided in 1996 to sell the complex and devote more time to their construction business, the facility's future became unclear. A lease agreement to a local promoter for the 1997 season fell through after that year, and the oval track and drag strip have sat quietly since.

Auto Tire and Parts Racepark, Highway 77 and County Road 505 east of Benton. Saturdays through Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.: sprint, modified and pure street stock racing with cruiser and limited late model divisions alternating weekly, $10 adults, $4 ages 6-12, free ages 5-under. Pit admission $20. Fridays at 6 p.m.: super pro, pro, pro-bikes and E.T. racing, $10 adult, free ages 11-under. Call (573) 545-9366 or visit www.autotireandpartsracepark.com