DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 17) – The last of the pictures were being taken this morning and promoter Roger Hadan was already being asked what made Eagle Raceway so successful.
Hadan received the Auto Racing Promoter of the Year award for 2013, given by Racing Promotion Monthly, during RPM’s Speedweek national workshop in Daytona Beach.
“Racing is something I’m passionate about. Receiving this award is a huge privilege,” said Hadan, who has operated the eastern Nebraska speedplant with wife Michelle since 2006. “The people who make their living running a race track are the real heroes. They do something 99 percent of other people can’t do.”
Eagle is the longest tenured IMCA track in Nebraska, sanctioning the IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modifieds since 1985. Hadan has since added IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods, Mach-1 Sport Compacts and, most recently the IMCA Eagle Motorsports RaceSaver Sprint Cars to regular weekly shows.
Saturday programs at Eagle have some of, if not the highest weekly car counts in the country. The track is also home to the Sprint Car Super Nationals, which featured drivers from nine states at its inaugural running last year.
“We made a major change last year with the RaceSaver Sprint Cars. It made the class more affordable for more drivers,” Hadan said. “I think you have to have affordable classes of racing and that goes back to IMCA, sanctioning with them and using their rules.”
The Hadans’ daughter Racine is now part of the management team at Eagle with duties that include social media. Hadan believes that staying connected with fans, drivers and local sponsors has become part of the foundation for the track’s success.
He’ll find a place at Eagle to display both the national ARPY and Great Plains Region awards. One of six nominees again in 2013, he’d also won RPM’s regional award in 2011.
“This is a group award. It’s not really for one person,” Hadan explained. “Some tracks have employees. We have people who are committed to the sport.”
“As all of us at IMCA had hoped, Roger, Michelle and the entire staff at Eagle are really getting recognition they deserve,” said IMCA Vice President of Operations Brett Root. “We couldn’t be more happy for them and to be associated with Eagle Raceway.”
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