498 - Business of Motorsports (Part VI) - Owning & Operating The Local Short Track w/ Ashly Burnett

Kelley Earnhardt Miller sets out to learn the fundamentals of operating a race track as she sits down with Millbridge Speedway owner Ashly Burnett. She and co-host Mike Davis interview Ashly about her long family history in racing and how it led her to take over a speedway herself. Ashly explains that after growing up in the St. Louis area, her father Darrell forged a path in dirt modified racing that took her to many Midwest short tracks every weekend in her formative years. His pursuit to become an engine builder eventually led the family to North Carolina, and her brother Nick has since become an accomplished dirt racer in his own right. Ashly and her husband Jeremy Burnett came to own Millbridge when its former owner decided to get out of the sport. She recalls the process of learning how to manage a speedway as they went along, from acquiring the necessary equipment like tractors and track graders to keeping events organized and on schedule. She also touches on how the track remained open during COVID and actually experienced a boom in popularity that it continues to thrive from. Finally, the interview discusses how Millbridge has played home to not only NASCAR Cup stars, but their children, and how the speedway could very well be a training ground for the next generation of racing superstars.