The winner of tonight’s King of America Modified Nationals at Humboldt Speedway may not be the only one seeing green this weekend.
The four-day race extravaganza has been billed as the top collection of modified race car talent ever to occur on a dirt track in Kansas.
And with the drivers coming from as far away as New Mexico, Minnesota and Texas, thousands of race fans are certain to follow.
Local businesses are gearing for a busy day.
“We’ve brought in extra staff all week, and we expect it will be busy,” said Monica Gomez, owner of Estrellita’s Restaurant.
Gomez expected Friday to be even busier because it marked Humboldt High School’s final home football game of the season. With the school’s Parents Night activities, even more will be in town and invariably in need of something to eat.
“We’re busy on game nights, and we’re busy on race nights,” Gomez said. “There are a lot of factors that go into it.”
The weekend also is busier than normal for Tina Patel, manager of the Best Western Motel in Iola.
She figures at least half of her 58 rooms are occupied by either racers or race fans in town.
“We heard about it last month, so it wasn’t a surprise,” Patel said. “We’ll be busy.”
Super 8 motel owner Sandy Garver also noted the influx of race fans at her business in Iola.
“We’re usually busy, so I can’t tell you for sure how many are here for the race, but we know they’re here,” she said.
Stephanie Vail, an employee at Johnsons General Store in Humboldt is bracing for large crowds starting Friday. The convenience store will stay open an hour later than normal tonight to accommodate those leaving the race track.
“Races are good for business,” she said.
Another local merchant gearing up for heavy sales is Misha Collins, owner of Pit Stop Liquor in downtown Humboldt.
While business hasn’t been abnormally busy through the first two days of racing competition, Collins knows the fans were going to start arriving on Friday.
RON WHITWORTH, owner of the Humboldt Speedway, hopes the economic impact of having the King of America races in Humboldt will grow for years to come.
“This could be huge,” he said.
Whitworth noted that attendance was down the first two days of the races, not unexpected because of the first cold snap of fall and the ongoing economic doldrums enveloping southeast Kansas.
“A lot of people can’t afford to go to four nights of races,” he said. “But they’ll get here for the weekend.”
Driver John Allen of Chanute – whose auto parts store is one of the main sponsors for the King of America races – agrees that the economic impact will grow as more area racing enthusiasts realize the quality of competition.
Several United States Modified Touring Series champions, combined with the best local racing talent, have already made for exciting races, Allen said.
“It’s going to be even bigger next year,” he said.
