Speedway Motorsports announces job cuts

Matthew Thacker/Motorsports Images
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emailBy RACER Staff | 6 hours ago

Racetrack operator Speedway Motorsports has became the latest motorsports industry heavyweight forced into cost-cutting measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has shut down racing events.

Speedway Motorsports, LLC — which owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway, and operates U.S. Legend Cars International and the Performance Racing Network as subsidiary companies — announced Wednesday that it has laid off 180 employees and furloughed another 100.

“The extraordinary circumstances presented by this pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of the economy have had a significant impact on our business,” the company said in a statement. “Since the beginning of the shutdown four weeks ago, we have kept our entire team on full pay while our properties remained dormant. In that time, it has become clear that we must be a more nimble, more efficient organization.

“As such, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our business and eliminate many duplicate positions. Unfortunately, part of this restructuring includes eliminating approximately 180 positions across all departments at our speedways and subsidiaries.

“Approximately 100 additional employees have been furloughed. These decisions were not easy. Our company is providing a severance package to each person affected by job eliminations.

“Speedway Motorsports remains committed to providing the very best entertainment experience to all who come through our gates when America’s fight against this pandemic is behind us. This reorganization positions us to move forward at that time and well into the future. In the meantime, our staff will continue to maintain our facilities in preparation for the event days ahead and support our community with outreach efforts during this time of need.”

Speedway Motorsports’ action follows similar cost-reduction measures at NASCAR and IndyCar.

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