Andy Hillenburg sits behind his desk at his FastTrack Driving School headquarters in the shadows of Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
His telephone rings, his cell phone buzzes repeatedly. Life is busy.
The former sprint-car driver from Indiana has a lot going on. In November, he added the title to his already long list of jobs, which include husband, dad, team owner, driving school proprietor, auto racing historian and occasionally race-car driver.
And it is that new title — speedway owner — that is keeping his phones ringing as much as anything else. Hillenburg purchased Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Speedway, and has been busily preparing the facility to host the Carolina 500 for the ARCA RE/MAX Series May 2-4 at The Rock. It will be the first stock-car race at the 1.017-mile speedway in more than four years.
While NSSN will tell the story of Hillenburg’s revitalization of the Richmond County North Carolina oval in a future issue, the Carolina 500 is our topic for the day and Hillenburg’s passion.
Hillenburg expects more than 80 cars to attempt to qualify for the 50 — that’s right, 50 — starting positions in the 500 kilometer event, which will run on Sunday afternoon following the NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Saturday night in Richmond, Va. The race will be shown live on Speed.
“The best race date on the schedule was this first weekend in May and we wanted to make it where it was off for the Busch (Nationwide) and Cup guys because a lot of guys had expressed interest in coming and racing,” said Hillenburg. “So, the Richmond deal with them racing at night and fairly close, if they don’t have any weather issues up there, it is possible for guys from the Busch or Cup series to run. I don’t know who is coming yet. A few guys are still working on it from both series. I feel like a few guys are going to do it.”

“I want people to understand that this ARCA racing is great. That is why Roush Racing fields a car, Hendrick fields a car, Ganassi fields a car, Evernham fields a car, the Pettys field a car. This is great racing. I think once people see that, then the ARCA series can take off and roll. This has the chance to be the moment in time to change the ARCA series into even a bigger entity than it is and it has been around for 56 years.” - Andy Hillenburg

Among those outside the ARCA regulars that have committed are Ken Schrader, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Chad McCumbee, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano. Speed analyst Phil Parsons will come out of retirement and call the race from the cockpit of a race car. Hillenburg expects a few more big names to be added to the entry list as the date comes closer.
Hillenburg “feels personally responsible for making this thing work.” But it’s not just the track he has faith in. He believes the ARCA series can deliver the goods when it comes to a quality stand-alone product.
“I think down here with the exception of Daytona, there hasn’t been an ARCA race that has been specifically promoted as an ARCA event,” he said. “They raced at Charlotte and Atlanta and it was like, ‘Oh fans, by the way, before you go to the parking lot, please enjoy the ARCA race.’ That was another reason I made it a stand-alone event.
“I want people to understand that this ARCA racing is great. That is why Roush Racing fields a car, Hendrick fields a car, Ganassi fields a car, Evernham fields a car, the Pettys field a car. This is great racing. I think once people see that, then the ARCA series can take off and roll. This has the chance to be the moment in time to change the ARCA series into even a bigger entity than it is and it has been around for 56 years.”
Hillenburg knows the quality of the event is what will bring people back.
“We have to convince people that this is a great event and we do that by getting their curiosity up. We need to make the ticket prices affordable,” he explained. “It’s $35 for a frontstretch ticket, $30 for turns one and two and $20 for the infield. Make it affordable and guys will come out to see what you’ve got and then when 50 cars roll into that first turn, we are going to hook several thousand people on ARCA racing.”
While the first few months of his stewardship of Rockingham Speedway have been preparing the facility for race fans, Hillenburg knows it’s now time to get down to business.
“I have taken my hard hat off this week and put on my carnival promoting hat.”