There have been significant changes in the leadership team at Anderson Speedway.
Rick Dawson, who has owned the track for 30 years, announced that Jared Owen will now be serving as president of the local track.
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Joe Balash has been named the director of operations and will be overseeing all race related aspects at the speedway.
I have known Joe and his wife Tammy for many years. I first met them when we all worked, along with my wife, Kelly, with the Madison County based American Speed Association.
Balash at the time was senior vice president of operations for the former ASA which conducted races all over the country.
He left to join NASCAR as the Series Director for the formerly called Busch Series.
Balash left NASCAR to become director of racing operations for Track Enterprises, which had purchased the former Champion Racing Association.
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He returned in NASCAR as the sporting and technical director for EuroNASCAR.
Owen has been overseeing racing operations at Anderson Speedway for several years and has worked diligently to enhance the experience for fans and competitors.
Owen also oversees the mybigPlan.com500 Sprint Car Tour, which has at its key event the annual Unified Group Services Little 500 at Anderson Speedway.
The Little 500 is set for May 23, which will be the 78th running of what is considered to be the most prestigious pavement sprint car race in the country.
Knowing both Owen and Balash it will be interesting to see what innovations are brought to the historic track in the future.
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Dawson will remain active at the track as the chairman of the board.
In other racing news: A couple of weeks ago Carson Hocevar became the latest driver to compete at Anderson Speedway to win a NASCAR Cup race.
The list of drivers that competed at Anderson Speedway over the years and went on to win a NASCAR race is extensive.
The list includes Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader, Michael Waltrip, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones and Johnny Benson.
Most of those drivers competed when the original ASA would bring the series to Anderson for the Redbud 400.
Open wheel drivers that raced at Anderson and achieved success in NASCAR include Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and A.J. Foyt.
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Congratulations to Ryder VanAlst on his first Anderson Speedway Vern’s Concrete Late Model feature win last weekend.
VanAlst has been knocking at the door for that first win, the first of many in the future.
