Hutch News on DC Raceway Park

[Redhead 18]

By the News Staff
Waddell Reed

DODGE CITY - A special committee tabbed with helping pick a new promoter at Dodge City Raceway Park had whittled the hopefuls down to two.

But one of the finalists, C. Ray Hall, operator of 81 Speedway in Park City, said he withdrew his name from contention this week, leaving just Ken Brown. Brown, who used to manage a track in Nebraska, now helps direct a Denver-based car club.

Whether the turn of events means Brown gets the job remains unclear, and city officials were mum as of Thursday. Meanwhile, the season is tentatively set to begin in April.

Mike Mathis, originally from Colorado, had run the city-owned track here, but he stepped down at the end of 2006 after three years in the post. Some had griped about the subsidy he received from a city and Ford County sales tax stream to run the facility, though others say running the track without some sort of public funding is not possible.